Lost In You
by 6Troublemakers
Summary: Hinata and Sasuke have been together forever. But Sasuke's ego and thirst for power has been getting in the way of their relationship. After telling Hinata that she needs to change for his ego, she realizes that she must. However, an incident with Kiba, Sasuke's rival, could change all of that and force Hinata into choosing between two loves.
1. Chapter 1

She clung to his arm and hung close to his side. Always there, always present by his side, and always quiet. She seemed like a wide eyed little girl next to a strong male figure. Most of the time, she wasn't even acknowledged by him or his friends. But this was becoming normal after being by his side for so long.

She had been by his side since they were six years old, and they told each other that they were going to marry each other. It seemed like young, stupid love, but it was sincere love. But as the years progressed and the years that they had been together became almost a decade, it had lost childhood innocence and sincerity.

She wanted to love him, she wanted to make it work, but his ego and this thirst for power and influence made it maddeningly hard on her. He had lost his face, and she just wanted him to find his way back home to her. He didn't seem like himself anymore, and it broke her heart every time he swore that he was still there.

But he wasn't.

She pushed herself so close to his side that she seemed stuck to him, like a leech almost, but a leech is how she felt, she held onto his hand as if she was afraid to let go.

"Sasuke, are you going to take that shit from Suna?" Naruto asked during passing period in the hallway as they were walking to their next class, history.. Suna was Konoha's school rival, and they were underestimating Sasuke's abilities as the schools starting quarterback, and that pissed him off.

Sasuke clenched his jaw, and she knew this as a tactic he used to control himself when he was feeling angry, "I'll take their shit, then I'll prove them wrong at the game Friday," he answered in an ominous voice.

She squeezed his hand, as a gesture to reassure her belief in him, although she always believed in him. She had no one else to believe in, not even herself.

Naruto nodded, "Good luck, I heard that their new defensive is a bitch! The players are so good, and they're huge! I also heard that their safeties are so fast! I heard that quarterbacks have a hard time outrunning them, and—", Sasuke's look silenced Naruto.

"Shut up Naruto, I'll do just fine, no matter what," Sasuke was squeezing her hand at this point, then he let it go and walked on, leaving her and Naruto in the dust.

Naruto looked at her, "What's up with him, Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata shrugged and rushed after him, she knew that he'd want to come over and talk about this later. She was always so worried about Sasuke and how he felt, that he almost forgot about how she felt. And frankly, Hinata forgot about her own feelings as well.

She entered the classroom and take her seat next to him, as usual. He looked over at her, then looked away coldly. Hinata shifted her weight uncomfortably in her desk, wanting so badly for Sasuke to go back to the Sasuke that she knew.

She looked over at him and opened her mouth to speak, but then a nuisance came into the classroom, and he looked angry.

He walked straight up to Sasuke and grasped the sides of the desk, staring straight into Sasuke's cold onyx eyes, "Well captain, why didn't you fucking tell me that practice was moved from the lower field to the upper field yesterday?"

Sasuke just stared at him, not saying anything, but his eyes were full of hate.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Sasuke finally said.

"I think that I'm your fucking wide receiver and that I should be told these things because we have a god damn game Friday against Suna," he replied.

Hinata squirmed in her seat. "K-Kiba, Sasuke, please," she protested quietly.

Sasuke gave her a glare that shut Hinata up, all that she could do was watch and see what unfolds.

"I don't want you fucking playing when all you do is screw off and not take practice seriously," Sasuke stood up and said through clenched teeth. Now their face were close to each other, and they were glaring at each other.

"I don't screw off! You just refuse to include me when we're deciding which plays to do! So I never know what's going on. You're the annoying fuck that thinks he's the star player on our fucking team!" Kiba shot back, standing his ground and not breaking their gaze even once.

Hinata shifted her gaze from Kiba to Sasuke, then to Kiba again. She was sure that this would end in violence as usual. She moved her hand to her mouth.

"I am the star player! I'm the starting quarterback! You're just some shitty receiver," Sasuke bit back. Kiba shook his head and punched Sasuke square in the jaw. Sasuke fell back in his chair and then got up to lunge at Kiba and tackle him to the floor.

They rolled around, flailing, punching, and kicking each other. Everyone in the class was staring at them, some egging them on, some in horror and halfheartedly protested.

Hinata leaped from her seat and shrank against the wall. She knew that the old Sasuke was a pacifist, that he would never hurt anyone. But this new Sasuke was different, he wasn't hers anymore.

It wasn't until Naruto came in and jumped right in to pull Kiba off of Sasuke that the fight finally stopped. Then the teacher came rushing in and he restrained Sasuke from attacking Kiba, and sent both of them to the office.

Hinata slid into her seat and buried her hands in her face. Every time Kiba and Sasuke had an argument, it ended in violence.

"And then Mrs. Tsunade said that I could leave, once again I got off easy while Kiba got into trouble. He's not allowed to play the game Friday," Sasuke told Hinata as they were lying on her bed that afternoon. They were staring up at the ceiling, like they used to do when they were little, and the top of their heads were almost touching as they laid there.

"Well don't you think you're too hard on Kiba?" Hinata finally said. "He just wants to play football, and he's not half bad at it, he catches all of your passes," she defended. She felt like she could talk to Sasuke like this, because they were staring up at the ceiling and he couldn't look her in the eye and give her a disapproving look. Or chill her with his gaze.

"Hinata, why are you defending him?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata felt the blood rush to her head, she didn't want a fight, "I-I just think that if you're on a team, that you should care about everyone on your team. I mean, you're captain so you need to think of the good of your team,"

Sasuke pondered this for a moment, "You know, Hinata," he finally spoke. "If you think that highly of everyone, even scum like Kiba, then you won't be as powerful as me,"

Hinata felt dizzy now, although she was lying down and staring at the ceiling.

"You need to stop being a child, you need to let go of your dream world, not everything's like that. Not anymore it isn't. I don't want you holding me down because of your childish ideals," he scolded her.

Hinata had to choke back tears. She didn't speak after this. Sasuke finally sat up and turned to stare down at her, before giving her a kiss on the lips and leaving, without another word.

Hinata thought about what he said for a while. Maybe she was the problem; maybe it was her fault why Sasuke wasn't the same anymore.

She rolled over onto her side and pulled her legs up to her stomach. She remembered being twelve years old again and laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and talking like they did after school every day. Even when Sasuke had football practice, he still came over after that and they talked until her mother yelled at him to go home.

And then she tried to remember past freshmen year in high school, and it wasn't as pleasant as those memories of innocence were. Where she could get lost in him, but now she was so lost. Lost without him. Lost in his ego, which didn't seem to have room for her anymore.

And with this realization, she cried until she finally fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

It was now Friday night and it was the big rivalry game between Suna and Konoha's football teams. Konoha was now on the offensive and it was Sasuke's time to shine as the school's starting quarterback. But instead of doing well, he was passing to the other, lesser, wide receivers who didn't do too well. Also, Sasuke had gotten sacked pretty quickly as one linebacker snuck through the defensive ends and defensive tackles. Sasuke was visibly frustrated, Hinata could tell from sitting way up in the stands. She knew that he wouldn't be happy when he came over later that night.

Hinata sighed, and got up as the teams were switching and Sasuke was running off the field to let the Konoha defense on. She started walking up the stairs, with her head down and her hands buried in her brown leather coat and her nose and mouth nestled in her purple scarf.

But as she was walking up, she bumped into someone. She bumped into someone hard, and familiar. Hinata took a step back as she hit this person, and she lost her balance on the step and began to fall. Luckily, however, the person that she bumped into caught her elbow and pulled her roughly to catch her balance.

Hinata was breathing heavily, and her heart was beating fast as she looked down the stairs leading to her front row seat that she had just left. Then she turned to face her rescuer. It was Kiba, looking at her with concern, but it wasn't a kind concern, it was more of a rough concern.

"K-Kiba," Hinata stuttered, looking into his animalistic brown eyes. "Thank you," she finally said after swallowing hard.

"It's no problem," Kiba muttered as he turned his gaze from the pretty plum haired girl down to the field, where the defense was getting killed by Suna's much larger, and must faster, defense. What Naruto said earlier that week about Suna appeared to be true.

"Shit," Kiba said as the safeties on Konoha easily let a running back pass and score another touchdown. Hinata her head to look at the field.

"Sasuke's so stupid," Kiba finally said as Konoha's offense came back on to go against Suna's superior defense.

Hinata looked at Kiba, imploring him with her eyes to say more, but Kiba wasn't looking at her, only staring at the field with angry eyes. "He should've let you play," Hinata finally said.

Kiba looked down at her for a second, then back to the field, "No shit, you can't trust inexperienced sophomores to play an experienced senior's position at a game like this,"

"You're right. I'm sorry that Sasuke did that," Hinata said, looking down at her feet. She knew that she shouldn't disrespect her boyfriend like this, but she felt bad for Kiba. He was a good player but he got the brunt of all of Sasuke's frustrations.

Kiba looked down at her, and he looked into her eyes for a long time; studying them, reading them, "You know," he finally spoke, not breaking eye contact, "You're pretty alright for being a dick's girlfriend."

Hinata smiled at him, "Well, I should get to my seat again then," she told him, and she turned to walk down the stairs. Only to slip on some spilt soda and fall backwards, into Kiba's ready hands.

As Kiba lifted her to her feet, for the second time in about five minutes, he smiled at her with a lopsided, almost cocky smile. "You can't be trusted to go down these bleachers, I'll escort my _Captain's_," he said the word with the disgust, "girlfriend."

Hinata smiled at him, then blushed under her purple scarf as he walked her down the bleachers, holding onto her arm the whole time so as to assure that another event like this didn't happen. In the end, Kiba ended up sitting with Hinata, trash talking Sasuke the whole time.

"See that? He hesitated and because of that he was sacked! Dumbass!" Kiba complained. He was clenching his fist and yelling by this point.

Finally, Hinata had heard enough. "Do you ever stop trash talking Sasuke?" she finally spoke up. Kiba looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Why do you guys hate each other anyway?" she asked.

Kiba stared at her for a while, and Hinata shrunk into her scarf at his gaze. Kiba finally sighed, smiled, and shook his head.

He look at the field, as if trying to remember something. "He's hated me since I've known him. He's never treated me as a teammate, and he goes out of his way to trash talk me to Coach Asuma and make me look like a bad player. I honestly don't know what he has against me, but I just wish he'd figure his shit out and lay off for a while,"

Hinata looked down at her Ugg boots and she pondered this. She never knew Sasuke to be so mean. Maybe, he saw Kiba as a threat, as Sasuke was obsessed with power. Hinata decided to inform Kiba of why Sasuke was being mean to hopefully bring about a resolve.

"K-Kiba," Hinata stuttered. She always stuttered when she said a name that wasn't Sasuke's, it was like she was betraying her boyfriend just by speaking his name. "Maybe… Sasuke is jealous of you? He always wants to be the best, and maybe because you're so good… He's trying to get you out of the way," she told him.

Kiba smirked, "Well I know I'm a good player," Hinata felt a little frustrated at is incessant cockiness, "But he doesn't need to hate me for it. A quarterback is only as good as his receivers and running backs, and a team is only as good as its' captain," Kiba told her.

Hinata sucked in some air, and she looked at her boots once more. Kiba had a point, Sasuke didn't need to do this quest for power alone, he could be powerful, and still be liked and have friends. Hinata didn't see the reason to change anymore.

Hinata was going to spill her guts to Kiba, to tell him everything about how Sasuke said that she needed to grow up to be a part of his life, and how Sasuke needed friends, but suddenly the buzzer rang. The game ended, and the game was lost. With the loss, the student body lost their faith in Sasuke as a quarterback, an even bigger blow to his pride than the loss of the game.

"Well, we lost. Sasuke's such an ass! I could've caught all of those passes if he would've let me play!" Kiba growled. Then he got up, "It was nice talking to you Hinata, but I'm sure your boyfriend will kill me if he sees us sitting together, so I'm leaving," and with that short goodbye, Kiba bounded up the steps. Hinata sat there, gaping at him.

For as cocky as Kiba was, he also meant well, and she could see that through his wisdom. Much to Sasuke's chagrin, she started to respect Kiba a little bit. Like her, he took a lot of crap from Sasuke. But the emotion that came over her next was foreign, she didn't know what she was feeling, but it felt like anger mixed with a little bit of wanting for something better. But she shook off the emotion as she stood up and dusted off her jeans, she couldn't possibly be thinking of wanting to leave her boyfriend. Not after all that he had done for her.

"This is such bullshit," Sasuke said. They were once again, lying down on her bed, the top of their heads touching, staring up at the ceiling.

"I can't believe that none of my receivers caught my passes and that my defensive linemen didn't stop stupid linebackers from tackling me," he complained. He was angry and frustrated for Coach Asuma had chewed him out for making bad calls and letting the team down.

"Fucking Kiba let the team down," he started again. Hinata was letting him talk until she felt that he had ranted enough and she could get a decent word in. "If he hadn't picked a damn fight with me, then we wouldn't have lost!" he said through clenched teeth. He let out an angry sigh and stared up at the ceiling.

After a few moments of silence, Hinata decided that it was time to speak. "Well maybe you shouldn't hate Kiba so much. He means well, and he's not a bad player. He wants the team to do well just as much as you do," Hinata defended.

Sasuke shot up and turned to stare down at her pale face. He was glaring at her by this point. "So even my fucking girlfriend isn't on my side," Sasuke accused.

Hinata sat up to meet his angry eyes, "N-No! That's not what I'm saying! You have to work with people that you don't want to work with for the greater good!" she protested. Her eyes grew more wide and frightened as Sasuke's grew more narrow and angry.

He finally got up from the bed and stood in front of it, "Hinata, I told you to stop holding onto your childish ideals. I can't be with someone who doesn't respect what I'm doing, especially what I'm doing for her," and with that being said, Sasuke grabbed the doorknob angrily and slammed it shut.

Hinata sat up; she heard the front door slam too. Sasuke was really gone, and once again she started to cry. Sasuke hadn't broken up with her, had he? He always did this kind of stuff when he was mad. He'd come back eventually, right? But all of those empty things that she told herself didn't seem to do her any good. Something about this situation felt different… She needed to go someplace to think, someplace that wasn't her room, with all the many memories that it absorbed in its' walls over the years.

She had arrived at the school's football stadium. She hopped the fence, like she used to do with Sasuke, and she walked across the rubber track to the football field. Her and Sasuke used to come here when they were younger, when Sasuke was telling her of the life that they'd have together. But all of that seemed shot to hell since their fight.

The stadium lights were still on, which was unusual after a game, especially with it being about twelve o'clock at night. She dug her hands in her pockets and walked the length of the field twice. Finally, she heard someone jump over the fence surrounding the perimeter of the stadium. Panicked, she ran to the gate under the bleachers and pressed her body against it, it was dark under there and hopefully she could slip out unnoticed.

But the person she saw jump over the fence did it effortlessly. She saw that the person who jumped over the fence was tall, a male perhaps. No, it had to be a male, judging by the strongly built body.

She shivered as she tried to quiet her breathing. Then, she saw the male's face in the lights of the stadium. She saw that it was Kiba. She slowly peeled herself from the fence under the bleachers and cleared her throat, trying to give him warning so as to not scare him.

Kiba was walking the length of the field and he had his hands in his pockets, staring at his feet. But upon hearing her clear her throat, he turned to face her with confusion.

"Hinata? What are you doing out so late?" Kiba asked looking her up and down.

Hinata shook her head and burst into tears, although she had not wanted to. "Whoa, whoa," Kiba walked over to her and held his hands up, as if unsure if to pat her on the back or not. "What's wrong?" he asked, finally reaching her.

Hinata shook her head once more, as if saying no to the tears, and she looked up at him. Finally, another wave of sobs overcame her and she all but jumped into Kiba's arms. She cried against his shirt and her tears wet it, Kiba just held her and stroked her hair.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" he whispered when her sobs seemed to subside. Hinata nodded against his now wet shirt and led grabbed her hand and led her to the bench. There, she told him everything about her and Sasuke. She told him about their fight, and about how he wanted her to change for him.

Once she finished her story, Kiba ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and he let out a sigh through his mouth.

"Well, I guess the only thing you can do is just wait it out, try to talk to him, or leave him alone," Kiba finally told her.

Hinata looked up at him with her lavender eyes, which were now tearless, although red. "But if I leave him alone, then I'll be alone too…" Hinata whispered, barely even loud enough for Kiba to hear.

Kiba looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, "Who says you'll be alone?" he asked.

Hinata knitted her eyebrows, "Well, I have no friends… No one even wants to talk to me because I am—was—dating Sasuke and they're all scared of him," she mumbled, then turning her gaze to her lap.

"Well, I want to be with you, and I'm not afraid of Sasuke," Kiba smiled at her with his lopsided cocky grin.

Hinata smiled up at him, "You do?" she asked, wanting confirmation because she had felt so perfectly alone even with Sasuke.

Kiba nodded, still keeping his smile intact. Then, a thought came over him. The way to get Sasuke back for being so rude to him was to take what he loved the most. And what he loved the most was looking for other things to love other than Sasuke.

Kiba finally did something brave, he grabbed Hinata's face, and tilted it to look up at him. She was blushing and looked so innocent and confused, Kiba knew that he had to do it now or he'd never do it. He roughly kissed her, for about three seconds, then he pulled away and Hinata gasped.

He still hand her face in his hands when he finally said, "I told you that I wanted to be with you," and then as if to prove his folly, he kissed her once more, with the same roughness.

Hinata didn't know where Kiba was going with this, but she let him kiss her nonetheless. And they stayed there for a while, kissing under the stars on the football field. And for as much as it felt wrong to both, it felt perfectly right.


	3. Chapter 3

It was strange not being around the man that she had spent so many years with, but now she was spending time with a different man. Everyone was giving them weird stares as they walked down the hallway hand-in-hand. A lot of people were whispering, others made no effort to hide their gawking, and others gave weird looks as they walked by.

Hinata's head was on a swivel, she was trying to look at every weird stare, trying to find out what they were gawking about partially, but mostly trying to find Sasuke, and pray that she didn't have to meet his disapproving stare. Hinata looked up at Kiba's face, proud as ever, looking at nothing and no one except for his goal down the hall. He was pulling Hinata along and helping her navigate the crowded hallways of passing period. They were going to the class where Kiba and Sasuke got into a fight about a week ago, and where all three had class together.

Eventually, the inevitable happened. Sasuke was in a group talking to Naruto, Shikamaru, Kankuro and Neji, whom were all football players as well. Sasuke was against the lockers and facing Hinata and Kiba as they walked by. Hinata sneaked a look at him, and she saw his icy glare, which really wasn't any different than his normal face. But as they cleared the group of Sasuke and his goons, Hinata could feel their eyes on her back, and it chilled her to the core.

Now it was class time, and Kiba was sitting next to Hinata, sharing her textbook and making every effort to shove the fact that Hinata was now his girlfriend in Sasuke's face. But as Kiba kept looking over, Sasuke seemed to be paying no mind. He was talking with other people, laughing, and never once did he look over at the two.

It vexed Kiba as much as it saddened Hinata to see Sasuke doing well without her. She started rethinking her worth to him, and wondering if losing her was something that he wanted. Because for a few moments, he seemed to be the happy, joyful, welcoming Sasuke that she once knew. And she was still trying to find herself.

Kiba kissed her once more before walking into his class. The bell to start class had long since rung, but Kiba wanted to prove to everyone that he and Hinata were madly in love, or so it seemed.

"I'll catch you later babe," Kiba smiled before he slipped into the classroom, late as usual. The hallway was practically empty and Hinata smiled as she started to walk to her locker to get her lunch. She had first lunch while Kiba had second lunch, Sasuke had first lunch too, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing him with all of their old friends sitting at the lunch table together.

Or were they her friends anymore? She didn't know. She hardly had any friends to call her own anyway. Sasuke had always made friends for her, and Hinata always went along with it. This being alone thing was still so new to her.

As Hinata finally made it down to her locker, she started to twist the lock to her combination. When suddenly, someone spoke to her and surprised her.

"Hinata, what the hell are you doing?" asked a voice that she knew too well. She pulled open her locker and stared at her feet, her eyes begging her to cry. Were these tears of joy? Tears of sadness? Tears of fear? She hadn't the slightest idea.

"Hinata," the angry voice said again. "What the hell are you doing?"

Hinata decided it best to stay silent. She grabbed her locker door and stared down at her books and binders on the bottom.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around. She met his dark, angry eyes and she knew that Sasuke was angry with her, not that that was any different than any other day though.

He stared into her lavender eyes, and she stared into his onyx eyes, then something inside her broke. She hardened her expression to match his cold stare, and made no notion of wanting to back down.

Sasuke reached over and slammed her locker shut, then he took a step forward, and with it, Hinata took a step back and pressed herself against her locker, never letting her angry gaze waver.

Sasuke put his hands on either side of her, and stared down into her eyes. After a few moments of the cold show down, he spoke.

"Do you think that this stupid childish game that you're playing will have any effect on me?" he asked.

Once again, Hinata said nothing, so Sasuke was left with no choice but to speak again.

"I hope you know, that you're making yourself look bad. Everyone knows what you're trying to do," Sasuke moved his face closer to hers and she could feel the heat of his breath on her face. "and everyone knows what Kiba is trying to do too, for revenge on me."

Hinata pressed herself against the locker as hard as she could, and took a deep breath and let her chest rise with it.

Sasuke studied her face, and then he slammed his fist as hard as he could against the locker. Hinata jumped a little bit and grew wide eyed as she looked to where he hit and noticed the dent.

"God dammit!" Sasuke yelled as he looked away angrily, trying to keep his cool. He wasn't sure if he was angry at himself or Hinata anymore, but he continued nonetheless.

"Go ahead Hinata, make an ass out of yourself, get used by that asshole, but just know that I won't be there when he leaves you broken." Sasuke removed his hands from either side of her and he straightened his back as he shoved his hands in his pockets, then he forced a chuckle.

"I told you to stop being a little girl, but you couldn't do that could you? Now you're lost without me, and you have no idea what to do. Admit it, you have no friends, no one would like you if it wasn't for me," Sasuke clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw was hurting. "Now you're just some bitch who I fucked, and everyone knows it," he took one final glare at her, and then he turned to walk away, hands still in his pockets.

Hinata closed her eyes and breathed heavily. She wanted to say something, to defend herself, but what could she do? He was Sasuke, she was herself, and she couldn't do anything to hurt him.

"Y-You're wrong," she finally whispered.

Sasuke turned around to look at her, and she peeled herself from the lockers and she stared at him for a moment. Then in another burst of courage, she spoke up.

"You're wrong," she repeated, now with more force and courage.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at her, like he wasn't amused with what she had just said, but also like he was surprised that she stood up to him.

Hinata took another brave step forward, "I'll always be the little girl that you could never accept, and maybe this is good for me. I'd like to be my old self again, but I'm still trying to find it," Hinata closed her eyes briefly, exhaled, and spoke again, "I want my stuff back from your house, all of it. It's mine, and for once, I don't want to share it with you. I'll be over later tonight to pick it up," she told him.

Then she walked away in the other direction, feeling good about standing up to him, but also feeling like she hadn't said anything hurtful enough to counter that of which he said to her. But maybe hurtful wasn't her style, maybe she wasn't like Sasuke. And for once in a long time, she was okay with that.

She knocked on his door, it was cold out and she was shivering under her coat, scarf, and hat. She had to walk to his house, because her car was in the shop getting fixed. She was greeted with a glaring Sasuke, who seemed like he was distressed. His hair was messed up and his cheeks were red, if she hadn't known any better, it seemed like he was crying.

He forcefully handed her the box and slammed the door shut. Hinata didn't even have time to thank him. She started to walk to the white gate that led to the path of Sasuke's house, digging for her things in the box. She found a hairbrush of hers, a shirt, a blanket of hers that they used to snuggle under late at night, and of course, pictures of them together ranging from around nine years old to their recent homecoming picture.

Hinata smiled as she pulled out a picture of her and Sasuke around nine years old, he was so dopey and funny back then. He used to be a little kid with glasses, who liked to read and played football. He also said that one day he was going to be a famous scientist and build a time machine for Hinata so that they could always go back and relive their happiest moments.

Hinata smiled nostalgically as she opened the white picket gate and stepped onto the sidewalk to walk home.

She remembered the past all too well, before Sasuke became the person who he was today, so power hungry and cold. She loved him so back in those days of innocence, back before he lost the one real thing he's ever known.

Hinata remembered going for walks in the Spring time, only to be rained out and forced to run home in the pouring rain. Sometimes it even hailed, and they would hold Hinata's ever present scarf over them to add some kind of barrier from the hail.

Hinata wondered if Sasuke had given back her old yellow scarf, she rummaged through the box, unsure of whether she saw it or not.

Hinata finally stopped walking and propped the box on another person's white picket fence. She knitted her eyebrows as she frantically searched for it. Maybe Sasuke had thrown it away? After all, it was such an old dirty thing.

Hinata shrugged it off and continued to walk home, thinking about Sasuke as a part of her past. And surprisingly, she didn't feel sad about it all being ended. She looked back at it as a happy time, and did not miss him, because she still felt so close to him and so affected by him. She knew in her heart of hearts that he made her a better person, and taught her many lessons.

Little did Hinata know, however, that the scarf she was looking for was in Sasuke's hands as we speak. Sasuke was lying on his bed in his room, in the dark, and holding onto her scarf, because it reminded him of her innocence, and it still faintly smelled of her. He wondered if she missed him too, he wondered if she'd come back, he also wondered if he had torn everything up with his little outburst at school earlier that day.

He also knew that no matter what, he'd always love her, and he'd always want to protect her. After all, he started this power spree for her sake, because he wanted her to feel safe and secure with him, although he didn't explain himself properly at times, and he got angry when he felt that she was doing something to jeopardize the world he created for her.

He also wondered if this is what love really was, to want somebody to be happy, to want to protect somebody, even if you're not with that somebody. Sasuke breathed in the scent of her yellow scarf, and then he turned his body to face the ceiling, and eventually fell asleep, with her on his mind and in his heart.

**Hope you guys liked it! I feel like this chapter was horribly written, and that nothing really happened. But on the other hand, if you look at the emotional aspect of it, it's a pretty big chapter! ^-^ And just for all of those who haven't caught on yet, this chapter was based off of the song, All Too Well by Taylor Swift. No, I'm not a big Taylor Swift fan, but it just seemed to fit the mood of the chapter. **** please keep reading and leave me a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thanks for all of the reviews **** I seriously have no idea where I'm going with a story until someone writes a review telling me what they want to see in the story haha not saying that all will be fulfilled but it's nice to see what the people want **** but will Kiba and Hinata end up together? I may have a different plan :0 Well anyway, I woke up this morning wanting to write this story and then I heard a song on the radio, Simply Amazing by Trey Songz and then I knew where I was going with this story! So without further ado, please read and enjoy **** and leave me a review!**

Hinata sat biting the sleeve of her coat and staring down at the football field. It was Konoha High's last chance to make it into the play offs, all they had to do was win this game. All Kiba had to do was catch this pass. Sasuke was going to do a clean, long pass to Kiba, all the way to the touchdown zone, as there was nine seconds left in the fourth quarter and they were tied, 35 to 35.

The whistle blew and Kiba went off, running around the defensive line and catching the eye of the cornerbacks and safeties. As Sasuke looked for Kiba to pass him the ball, Kiba was running and yelling for Sasuke to pass the ball to him. Kiba was being swamped by the cornerbacks and safeties, finally the pass came, but Sasuke over shot it. Kiba ran as fast as he possibly could, and when the ball neared the in zone, he leaped in the air and caught the ball before falling to the ground. Kiba cradled the ball for a second, and then he got up and held the ball up triumphantly as the buzzer rang.

The crowd cheered and his teammates ran up to him and tackled him back to the ground. Kiba finally was helped up from the ground by his teammates and Sasuke went to greet Kiba at the in zone and he jostled his helmet as if to say "good job". Hinata's heart leaped as she saw Sasuke, number 42, and Kiba, number 81, talking and smacking each other's helmets. Maybe then she wouldn't have to deal with Sasuke trying to interrupt her and Kiba's relationship.

The stands started to clear but Hinata was still sitting in her seat, staring up at the sky that was now lit with lights from the bright football field, and she waited for Kiba and the other boys to get done showering and getting ready. They were all going to the diner after this to get milkshakes and celebrate. The good thing about this was that Hinata could see Sasuke, and also spend time with Kiba. She wanted so badly to repair their relationship, but it seemed like an impossible feat at this point.

Hinata finally decided to walk down the bleachers and wait with the other players' girlfriends for their boyfriends. The girls that she met standing outside the stadium were Tenten, Ino, Sakura (who wasn't dating anyone, but always obsessing over an opportunity to see Sasuke) and Temari.

"Hey Hinata," Sakura greeted as Hinata neared the group. Although Sakura wanted Sasuke for what seemed like forever, she was never mean or cruel to Hinata. It was probably the most mature rivalry that even the most mature adults couldn't quite capture. Neither disliked each other, nor did they ever bicker, nor did Sakura ever try to break up Sasuke and Hinata. In fact, Sakura and Hinata were almost friends, and Sakura was always friendly to her.

"Hey Hinata, what happened with you and Sasuke?" Temari finally asked, knitting her eyebrows together as she leaned against the brick wall outside.

Suddenly every one of the girls' gaze was on her. Hinata blushed slightly and buried her face in her white scarf with red flowers on it. "W-We had a falling out," she finally answered.

"I see," Temari said. They all knew that Hinata was a girl of few words, and the way she answered the question made it seem like it wasn't up for further discussion.

"Well anyway," Ino began, trying to help the awkward silence. "Did you hear about Karin and Suigestu?"

"Oh my God! No! What happened?" Sakura rushed.

"Well I heard that they hooked up at a party last Saturday night," Ino gossiped.

"But I thought she was dating my brother!" Temari added, seemingly shocked at her brother's girlfriend's betrayal.

"Well not anymore! She said that even though she hated Suigestu she felt like she could have a better relationship with him than Kankuro," Ino told the shocked sister.

"That bitch!" Temari cursed, clenching her fist.

While the girls were chatting happily about, Hinata sighed and looked up at the still lit sky, longing for the stars. Although she wasn't with Sasuke anymore, and things weren't the same anymore, she knew that the stars they used to look at would be the same, and it provided some solace.

Hinata hardly noticed the sneaky boy that snuck out of the locker room next to her until he planted a kiss on her mouth. The mouth was still foreign to her, but she was getting used to it now. It was so hard to taste someone else's lips after you've been tasting the same lips for years.

"Hi," Kiba smiled as he pulled away, but still inches from her face.

Hinata blushed and smiled at him, "Hi," she replied.

And without speaking further, Kiba grabbed her hand and started leading her to his truck. He was wearing a zip up fleece sweatshirt that had blue sleeves and a white body and color, and he was wearing light skinny jeans that looked well-worn and were sagging slightly with Vans. He always looked so careless, but so put together at the same time. While as Sasuke always dressed sharply, as if that could give him more power or influence alone.

She got into the passenger seat of his truck and Kiba started the car. He pulled out of the school parking lot and got onto the highway to go to the diner. Hinata didn't say anything but looked out the window, wondering if Sasuke would take her back, and if he wouldn't, what she was going to do then. She was sure that she didn't love Kiba, and she was sure that Kiba didn't love her.

Kiba looked over at her curiously when he pulled off and exited the highway. "What's wrong, Hinata?" Kiba asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road and yet on her.

Hinata forced a smile and replied, "Nothing Kiba, just tired,"

Kiba frowned and let the subject drop. He knew that her smile was forced, and he also knew that she still loved Sasuke, but a part of him didn't want to let her go just yet.

Kiba then got a great idea, he turned on the radio. Troublemaker by Olly Murs was playing and he smiled to himself, and then on the chorus he started singing.

"Why does it feel so good but hurt so bad? My mind keeps saying 'run as fast as you can,'" He sang very loudly and off key.

Hinata giggled and joined him in the chorus, "I say I'm done but then you pull me back! I swear you're giving me a heart attack!"

Both were laughing and singing really off key throughout the rest of the song, Hinata couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun with Kiba. When she was with Sasuke, she didn't have a lot of fun, usually he was very serious, and he always talked of how he was going to make a good life for her one day. But she soon realized that the "good life" that he was trying to build with her was with someone else.

"You're a great singer," Kiba joked, smiling at Hinata and not paying attention to the road.

Hinata giggled, "I know I'm a great singer! You are too, we should do duets together more often," she flirted.

Kiba smiled and opened his mouth to speak but then Hinata screamed out and pointed to the road, "Kiba! Light!"

Kiba's smiled disappeared and he slammed on the brakes, sending both forward. Kiba then looked at Hinata, "Are you okay?" he asked, more worried about her than the red light that he almost ran.

Hinata threw her head back and laughed, and through her laughter she nodded. Kiba started to chuckle and then joined her in her laughter, he didn't realize how fun Sasuke's girl could be, he always thought that she was a wall flower and boring.

Hinata pointed to the road once more and managed to choke out, "Kiba, light,"

Soon their laughter ceased and they kept singing songs on the radio all the way to the diner.

The two walked in late and they were laughing together and joking with each other. They were laughing so loud that when they walked in, everyone looked at them. Coach Asuma was in the middle of a speech and he glared at Kiba when he came in with Hinata.

"Nice of you to join us, Kiba," he said. All eyes were on the couple now, and Kiba swallowed and stopped his laughter, he grabbed Hinata's hand and led her to the two empty seats across from each other at the end of the table.

Once the two were sitting, Asuma continued on, "Anyway, you guys did great out there. Sasuke, you're a great quarterback, I've got big hopes for you buddy," he nodded towards Sasuke and Sasuke looked calm, cool, and unfazed by the dazzling public compliment issued by the coach.

"And Kiba, you never dropped a ball tonight, you caught everything, it was outstanding. They were a tough team to beat, but you and Sasuke did it in the last nine seconds. Now if only we could get you to show up on time," Asuma added jokingly. Kiba smiled at his coach and then Hinata reached across the table, touched his hand and smiled at him once he turned to face her.

"We may have lost the game against Suna, but we're going to the god damn playoffs!" Asuma paused as the group clapped and cheered. Asuma sat down and that was the end of his speech, then the team and their girlfriends and other female guests started chatting happily.

Kiba reached across the table and grabbed a menu, then he started looking at it, trying to figure out which one Hinata would like the most, but he hadn't the slightest idea of her favorite flavor. He wanted to surprise her and show her how much he knew her, but instead he decided to ask her for her input.

"Hey Hinata," Kiba started, only to be cut off by a familiar angry voice.

"It's strawberry," Sasuke answered before Hinata even had a chance to hear the question. She was chatting happily with Tenten and her boyfriend Neji that were sitting next to them.

Kiba looked at Sasuke for a second, "Thanks man," he finally said. He then called the waiter over and shared a large milkshake for them to share.

Hinata beamed at Kiba once she heard what he ordered, "Strawberry's my favorite! How'd you know?"

Kiba grinned at her and then shot a quick look at Sasuke, who hadn't let his eyes leave Kiba, "A little birdy told me,"

Hinata smiled once more and reached across the table to squeeze his hand before engaging with him, Tenten, and Neji in a conversation. Sasuke had never seen Hinata so happy and friendly, he assumed that the ass had broken her out of her shell, or she finally decided to go back to being old Hinata for the first time in a long time.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore, he got up and went over to Kiba and put a hand on his shoulder. Kiba looked up at Sasuke confused as to why Sasuke hadn't tried to hit him yet.

"Can we talk?" Sasuke flatly said. Kiba nodded and got up, he gave Hinata a kiss on the cheek and then he walked with Sasuke out of the diner and into the freezing cold to "talk".

Sasuke put his hands in his gray jacket with a bunch of pockets on the front and then he finally spoke, "So, you and Hinata," was all that he could think to say.

"Yes, me and Hinata," Kiba flatly answered.

Sasuke turned his head to face the windows, where he could vividly see Hinata laughing and talking with everyone, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"You know, I forgot what it was like to see that side of her," Sasuke mumbled, half to himself. Kiba nodded and shifted his weight, knowing full well that Sasuke meant that Hinata was back to her old self.

"She really is something, isn't she?" Kiba replied.

Sasuke nodded then turned to face Kiba, "Please take care of her,"

Kiba was shocked firstly at Sasuke saying the word "please" to him that word seemed to reach everyone but him. And Kiba was shocked secondly that Sasuke seemed to have let Hinata go, he didn't know that Sasuke would take losing the girl that he's loved pretty much his whole life lightly. But maybe Sasuke was still in a dream state, not ready to accept that she had left his life.

"I'll try my best," Kiba answered before he knew what he was saying. Sasuke nodded at him and without another word he walked inside and sat down in his seat, by a bubbly, beaming Sakura and his best friend Naruto. Kiba followed and sat next to Hinata, who was laughing and making jokes with her friends. He tried to laugh with her and converse, but something seemed to be holding him back. Maybe it was the fact that he almost felt guilty for stealing Hinata, or maybe it was the fact that Sasuke's words kept running through his head and never became tired enough to stop.

"Bye guys!" Tenten waved to Hinata and Kiba as they were all walking out of the diner. Tenten was leaving with Neji and Kiba was getting ready to take Hinata home. But as Hinata started to walk across the parking lot to Kiba's car, she realized that she forgot something.

"Oh crap! I forgot my scarf!" she exclaimed. Kiba stopped and turned around.

"I'll go in and get it, you sit in the car," he told her.

Hinata shook her head, "No you get in the car, I'll just run inside and get it really fast," she told him already running across the parking lot.

She opened the second set of doors and ran face first into a strong chest, a strong chest that she knew all too well. She rubbed her nose and looked up to meet the face that she knew so well.

"Forget something?" Sasuke asked. Then he handed her her white scarf with flowers on it. Hinata took it from him and smiled graciously at him.

"Thanks so much Sasuke," she tilted her head and smiled a smile that Sasuke hasn't been able to resist just yet.

"Have a good night!" she added as she rushed out of the doors and to Kiba's truck that was waiting at the curb for her. She jumped in the passenger seat and Kiba leaned over to give her a kiss for the road.

Sasuke stared after the truck with his hands in his pockets. He immediately thought of Hinata's scarf that was still in his drawer. He wondered if he should give that beat up old yellow scarf to her, or keep it for himself. He doubted that she'd miss it, that thing was so old.

Naruto joined Sasuke in staring after the truck, "You know you've lost the girl that you've started all of this for,"

Sasuke nodded, and turned around to walk to his car. "I realize that,"

Naruto followed him, mostly because Sasuke was his ride home, and partly because he was his best friend. "I've never seen her so happy before. It's almost like when we were little," he added.

Sasuke thought back to those days of stupid innocence. Hinata used to hang around Naruto just to be able to talk to Sasuke. He thought that she was pretty, but said that he was never going to get married or have a girlfriend. Funny how all of that changed when he realized that Hinata was the girl that he loved, the girl that had always been there for him. He promised her that he would marry her one day, they were only seven at that time, and they were playing at the park and jumping off the swings to see who could jump farther.

But now it seemed that Hinata loved someone other than him. The thought was so foreign to him that he wasn't sure how to feel. If he really had lost the girl that he started everything for, then why did she still feel like a part of him?

Sasuke took out his keys and clicked the unlock button, his truck's tail lights blinked in response. "I'm happy that she's happy," Sasuke finally said as he climbed into the driver's seat.

Naruto was shocked to hear the words escape Sasuke's mouth as he buckled up and Sasuke began to back out. It seemed that Sasuke was becoming the person that he was meant to be now that Hinata was gone. It led Naruto to think that the split was good for both of them, but then again, he could tell that both still loved each other, and that they would always be a part of each other's lives, even if they were apart.

******READ ME:** **Guys, I'm a failure as an author. TT-TT I can't decide who I want Hinata to end up with! When I first started this story, I thought I knew who I wanted her to end up with, but after writing such emotional chapters like this and the last *blows nose* I just don't know anymore! On one hand, I feel so bad for Sasuke, because he loves Hinata but didn't know what he was doing. On the other hand, Hinata is so happy with Kiba! Argh! I feel like I'm getting too attached to this story. Such a failure TT-TT. Leave me some reviews stating whose side you're on and why! I seriously need help! **


	5. Chapter 5

** After asking my dear readers (or fans? O.o Idk. You tell me what you are haha) I got crazy amazing responses! Thanks to all those who commented! ^3^ I see that the vast majority of my readers are SasuHina fans (SasuHina ftw!... Not biased.) But a few comments made me laugh to myself, such as one commenter claimed me to be a "betrayer" and "deceitful" because I promised my readers something. Like whaaat? I never promised anyone anything! I've been just as confused as everyone else! (and I'm the author. Fail.) But my favorite comment just told me to do what comes to my heart, and let the story write itself. So that's what I'm going to do ^-^ and unlike my other stories, I want to take things slow to build a good plot. Now this next chapter might be boring, but it has some emotional value to the story. So hang tight everyone! *blows kisses* ;)**

It had been about three weeks. Or was it four? He had lost count. But the one thing he could count on is Kiba and Hinata walking by him on their way to class, hand in hand, laughing. It was funny how he knew her better than anyone else, and yet Kiba could bring out the best in her, of all people.

He didn't know if he liked what had become of his beloved Hinata, or if he could ever get used to seeing her with Kiba, but all he knew was that he should.

"Hey man, you want to go to class yet?" Naruto asked, tilting his head and batting his eyes to the electric clock on the side of the hall, denoting that class started in a minute.

"Yeah," was all that Sasuke said before he started walking ahead of Naruto. He was always so quiet, but even quieter since Hinata left. Naruto guessed that since there was no one left to impress with his charisma, he had stopped talking.

"So, are you getting used to them being together?" Naruto asked, falling into step with Sasuke and shoving his hands in his pocket.

"No," Sasuke replied flatly. "But all I know is that I should," he added. Naruto nodded and let the subject drop, knowing full well that Sasuke was done with the conversation, and that Naruto couldn't think of a reply to what he said.

They had reached class, and Sasuke was wrapping his pencil on his desk with his elbow on the desk and his hand cupping his face. He sighed and looked out the window. Class was so boring for him, mostly because he was so intelligent that it seemed senseless for the teacher to lecture him if he already knew all of the stuff. Besides, he was sure to get an A on the test anyway.

As Sasuke looked out into the bright, cloudless autumn sky he thought of Hinata, as usual. He realized that Kiba had the guts to cross him, and the guts to steal his girlfriend. No one ever dared that before, no one even thought of attempting it before.

This thought made Sasuke angry, but the next thought that popped into his head was an interesting one. He decided to confront Kiba once more, and tell him where he stands on this issue. The whole football team were always making such a big fuss about Kiba stealing Sasuke's girlfriend, a public confrontation might help the situation, as well as his rep.

But before Sasuke could think anymore, something caught his eye. He saw Kiba rubbing Hinata's head and tickling her inner thigh, and Hinata squirmed as Kiba smiled with amusement. Sasuke frowned at the two and continued looking out the window.

He remembered the first time he found Hinata's secret ticklish spot. It was right after they had sex for the first time. Sasuke felt the blood rush to his head, how did Kiba find that spot so soon? They had only been together for three weeks, or was it four? He hadn't the slightest idea. Bad thoughts began to fill Sasuke's head, causing his pulse to increase and his head became dizzy with his thoughts.

How did he do it? Had they… No. Sasuke didn't even want to go there.

But once the blood returned to its' rightful spots in his body and he calmed down his pulse enough to think clearly, he realized another thing. She wasn't his anymore, so none of this should matter to him. So why did it matter to him?

The benevolent bell for lunch rang before he could inquire any further. He packed up his stuff and hustled down the hallway to get into his car to go home for lunch. And possibly not come back until practice was scheduled to start.

Sasuke and Kiba were untying their cleats on either side of the locker room bench after practice. As the other sweaty, worn out boys came into the locker room, they all gave confused stares to the two. Some even whispered to each other, inquiring about the strange scene together. Usually, Sasuke and Kiba stayed on opposite sides of the locker room, usually, Sasuke and Kiba didn't ever talk except for when discussing plays to run.

Sasuke finally was finished taking off his cleats and he turned to his football bag. He pulled out his rubber Nike sandals and he slipped them over his socks. The silence combined with the tension was almost suffocating to Naruto, so he decided to get Shino and walk over with him to talk to Kiba and Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke, I need some help figuring out a play, will you come back with me to my locker to explain it to me?" Naruto asked seemingly nonchalantly as he approached Sasuke.

Sasuke shot him a look, "You should've been paying attention during practice," he then sighed and shook his head, "What play do you need help with?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head, "No, we need to go back to my locker to talk about it," Sasuke shot him a knowing look, and Naruto knew that he was caught.

Kiba was wiping the sweat off of his face with a towel he took from the top of his locker when Shino approached.

"Hey, we need to get out of here soon," he told Kiba.

Kiba removed the towel from his face and scowled at Shino. "Why do we have to get out of here now?" he asked, he seemed less suspicious than Sasuke.

"Your girlfriend is waiting for you, and it's almost seven o'clock," Shino lied, leaning up against the locker and crossing his arms.

Kiba's eyes got wide, "Shit!" he threw the towel into his locker and slammed it shut. He grabbed his football bag when Sasuke spoke up.

"It's not even close to seven o'clock yet," he moved to sit on the bench in the middle of the row of lockers, "And I know what you two are doing. Asking us to remove ourselves from each other's presence won't fix anything," he said to Naruto and Shino.

Naruto shrunk away from Sasuke while Shino stood his ground and matched Sasuke's always icy stare.

"Is the tension really that uncomfortable for everyone that you must separate us from each other?" Sasuke asked loudly. He knew that everyone was listening to him anyway, and he knew that everyone was worried of another fight happening right before play offs as well. He figured that he might as well ease their nerves ahead of time.

"Well, why don't you guys talk it out then?" Shino boldly suggested. Naruto began to sweat and shot Shino a look as if he were crazy, but even Shino might have some sense in him.

Kiba clenched his jaw hard and he turned around to face the man that he hated so, "Well Uchiha, he's right. Why don't we talk it out?" he sarcastically said.

Sasuke coolly laughed and turned his head away from him. Kiba's temper was getting hot, and when his temper got hot, it got short. He decided to give Sasuke a moment to answer. But when no answer was apparent, he spoke again.

"Am I not good enough for you to waste your breath on you arrogant dick?" Kiba challenged.

Sasuke smirked half to himself, half for Kiba's chagrin and he stood up to face Kiba, "Well what's there to talk about?"

Kiba smirked to himself, knowing what game Sasuke was playing. "I don't know, maybe about how I took your girlfriend, maybe how I already fucked her, maybe how she wants me and not you anymore,"

The locker room became dead silent. In the row of lockers next to the one that Sasuke was standing near, Suigetsu put a hand over his laughing mouth and smacked Jugo as if to try to share the joke with him. But Jugo was not amused and wanted to continue listening to the new drama.

Sasuke clenched his jaw, and used all of his will power to keep himself from punching Kiba in the face and shutting him up for good, but instead, Sasuke decided to play it cool, "Well if that's what we're talking about, then I have no interest. I already know all about fucking Hinata," he replied. Then he grabbed his bag and brushed past Kiba and was making his way to the door.

In the rows next to Kiba, he heard a series of "oh's" that signified that he had been "burned" by Sasuke. Kiba was frustrated that he couldn't get the best of Sasuke, and he decided to follow Sasuke out of the locker room once he heard the door close.

"Kiba, stop!" Naruto called after him. But it was too late, Kiba was running out the door to confront Sasuke.

"Hey you dick!" Kiba yelled after Sasuke. Sasuke turned around to give an unamused look to Kiba, which burned the latter of the two up to no end.

"Come here and fight me!" Kiba challenged, chest heaving from breathing heavily with anger.

Sasuke smirked and kept on walking, "No thanks," he answered.

Kiba glared at the back of his head, "Fine, I'll just go and fuck your girlfriend again then," Kiba tried again.

Sasuke turned around fully to look at Kiba, "That's fine, you're just her sloppy seconds anyway. And why would I want to fuck her again if you've been in her? I don't want the nasty STDs you have," Sasuke said with little to no emotion.

Kiba was fuming at this moment; he was clenching his fist and staring down Sasuke, "You act like you don't even care that she's gone anymore," Kiba let out by accident. He didn't mean to reveal his plan to Sasuke, but in fact, was it even a plan to spite Sasuke anymore? He couldn't even convince himself of this sometimes.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, "You had the guts to take her away from me. You'd love her more than I could anyway, you had the guts to stand where I stood," and with his part being said, he turned to walk to his car.

Sasuke was glad that he could get what he just said off of his chest. It was the revolution that he had come up with during class earlier that day. When he got into his car and started the engine, he remembered how Hinata would always grab his hand and help him turn the key in the ignition, like he needed help or something. And when he would turn off his car, she would help him turn the key once more. It annoyed Sasuke for a while, until he found out the real reason why.

When he pulled out the parking lot to go home he remembered asking her about it.

_"Why do you always help me turn the keys in the ignition? It's not like it's hard to do or anything," he had said, pouting a little as he started to drive away from the football field to take her home after his game._

_ Hinata looked at his cute pouting face that she loved so much and giggled, "It's because I want you to always start with me, and end with me," she replied innocently. Sasuke blushed at this and allowed her to continue doing this, up until the moment they broke up._

He smiled to himself, swearing that he could still feel her with him. But he wondered if she ever felt the same way…

He turned the keys to turn off the car and he got out and walked into his house, missing for the first time how she would always grab his hand and help him. As he walked up the stairs to his bedroom he also missed how she would always race him up to him room, and sometimes lock him out of it until he had to pick the lock just to get to her.

One time, however, he decided to stop playing that game. Instead he sat outside against the door and she sat inside his room against the door and they talked to each other for hours. Everyone in his house thought that it was weird, but Sasuke didn't care, she was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

Sasuke reached his dark, lonely room and he opened top drawer to his dresser and he pulled out her faded, beat up yellow scarf. He smiled to himself sadly as her examined it gently stroked it. He remembered when she called him after he had walked her home and told him that she left his scarf at his house again.

_Sasuke laughed, "Well you've left it at my house so many times that I'm starting to think that you want me to have it,"_

_ Hinata paused for a moment, "Do you have anything of mine at your house?" she asked._

_ Sasuke walked to lie on his bed, "Nope," he replied, staring up at the ceiling in the dark room._

_ "Then you should keep it, so that you'll always have a piece of me with you," she told him. Sasuke smiled to himself and told her that he loved her; she told him that she loved him as well. He had never felt happier than at that moment._

Sasuke walked to lie on his bed with her yellow scarf in hand. He thought about her and all of their memories in this room and on this bed, until he dozed off, her scarf still in his grasp.

When he woke up, he rolled over to look at the clock. It was about eleven o'clock at night and Sasuke realized that he hadn't gotten any of his homework done, nor has he taken a shower to wash off the post football smell.

Sasuke saw the yellow scarf, still in his grasp and then he started to think of Hinata again. He thought of Kiba and how he had claimed to have slept with her, and then realized what was left to do.

He needed to forget about her, and just be happy that she was happy. He decided that he was going to let her go. He got up and took her yellow scarf to a place where it should've gone so long ago. He opened up his messy and disorganized closet and he threw the yellow scarf in to get lost in the mess.

Feeling a sense of relief and like a weight had been lifted, Sasuke then walked through the attached door to his bathroom and turned on the shower, he planned to wash off all of the memories of her and come out a new man, not missing her any longer and no longer waiting for a call from her that will never come. And for once in his life, he was okay with being the one who lost.

She stared down at her phone, sitting in the white bean bag chair nestled in the corner of her purple walls. She wanted so badly to call him, to have him listen to her about how alone she is, to have him tell her that it's okay, and that she'll never be alone because he was with her.

But he wasn't with her now, was he? She let a tear roll down her cheek and she wiped it off, cursing herself silently for thinking of another when she was with someone.

But in one brave, probably stupid move, she clicked the call button on his contact.

Sasuke had just come out of the shower and was wearing nothing but a towel, and he saw his phone ringing. He rushed over to it when he heard the rapid vibrating that accompanied the familiar number. Before he could grab click the button to answer the call, it disappeared and all that was left his screen saver staring up at him.

He checked his missed calls list and saw that she had in fact called. His heart leaped, but then he realized that he needn't waste any more time on her. He looked through his contacts and deleted her contact. Not that that would do him any good, because he had long since memorized her number. But the feeling it gave him was liberating.

He realized that he didn't need to be tied down to her anymore, he then returned to his bathroom to put on his clothes and get ready for bed.

She stared down at her phone, not believing what she had just done. She shook her head quickly and then looked up his contact to delete him from her phone. But she had memorized his number by heart, both cell phone and home phone.

She stared at her purple wall across from her, thinking about what she had done. She let another tear slip down her cheek, and it was then that she had had enough. She couldn't love someone when she was still in love with someone else.

And likewise, she decided to let him go.

** Gosh I need a tissue box! TT-TT so sad! They're letting each other go! **** What will happen next? Well I think that I have an idea by now ;) this won't be a short story (like my others . . .) so sit tight and let's hope that things keep getting better for these two! Oh wait, I mean three. For these three. I realize that I haven't been a very omniscient narrator (my bad, but Sasuke's emotions intrigue me the most!) but this little last bit might have brought you into the world of "her" (never said Hinata did I? ;)) so keep reading and leave me some reviews! Oh and btw, the song Where I Stood by Missy Higgins inspired this chapter. Listen to it!**

** K bye **


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone was at a bowling alley, having a good time, and playing with their friends. This was in celebration of Konoha winning yet another game in the play offs against Iwagakure. At this rate, Konoha High's football record was at an all-time high, and they were soaring to the top, right with Suna High. Soon, if they kept going at the rate that they were going, they'd have the chance to face Suna once again for the championships.

All of this was terribly exciting to the players of Konoha and their respective lovers, or, in a few cases, soon to be lovers. Since Sasuke had decided to let Hinata go, about two weeks ago, he had been seeing Sakura. Of course, it was nothing serious, but Sakura's bright and pleasant personality made her difficult to resist. Not to mention, she was equally as gorgeous as her personality.

Kiba and Hinata were sitting facing the alleys and they were cuddling. Kiba had his arm around Hinata and he was joking with her about his less than perfect bowling record.

As Sasuke bowled a strike and Sakura ran up to hug him, Kiba got up to take his turn. He pulled a ball from the ball return and he stuck his fingers in the respective holes. He walked up to the lane and he turned to talk to Hinata.

"This time, I will for sure bowl a strike!" he exclaimed flashing her his famous lopsided grin. Hinata smiled back at him in a reassuring manor, although she knew that Kiba wouldn't bowl a strike. He was much too horrible at this game.

As she watched Kiba bowl yet another gutter ball, and his Naruto give him crap for his horrible bowling skills, she couldn't help but let her eyes wonder over to Sasuke and Sakura.

Sasuke was sitting in the seat diagonal from hers and Sasuke had his arm around Sakura. She couldn't help but also recognize that Sasuke was talking, smiling, and telling jokes to make Sakura laugh. And in the spirit of things that she couldn't help, she couldn't help but remember the old Sasuke. Sasuke used to always call her and tell her funny stories about the trouble him and Naruto got into to make her feel better.

One time, he even told her a story of how Naruto convinced Sasuke to kiss a girl that Naruto liked.

_"He told me to tell her that it was from him," Sasuke laughed. Hinata laughed through her tears as well, knowing where this was going._

_ "And then when I finally got up the nerve to kiss her, she shoved me off of her and punched me. And then she told the teacher and we weren't allowed to sit next to each other, or talk to each other, for the rest of the year. They probably thought that I was some future molester," Sasuke joked._

_ Hinata giggled, "Who was this girl that you kissed?" she finally asked. She had known everyone since she was born because they all grew up together in Konoha._

_ Sasuke paused for a second, "Why do you ask?"_

_ "Because I want to know why she would reject a kiss from you," Hinata flirted, the smile replacing her tears in an instant._

_ "Well it was Sakura," he finally said. Hinata accepted his answer and they went on chatting and joking until the late hours of night._

"But now she won't be rejecting any kisses from him will she?" Hinata thought to herself. She knew that the chapter in her life with Sasuke was now closed since Kiba came into her book, but she knew that she would always remember their happy moments together. It was about a decade of happy moments together, something that Kiba couldn't replace in just over a month.

Kiba came back not triumphant in his quest to finally bowl a strike.

As he plopped down next to his girlfriend, Hinata grabbed his hand, "You'll get it, I promise," she reassured him.

Kiba smiled at her, "I sure as hell will, or we'll be here playing games all night until I do!"

Next it was Sakura's turn, and she got up gracefully from her respective seat by Sasuke to pick up a ball from the ball return. Hinata looked at her with a hint of jealousy, and she stared at Sakura's back and envied her perfectly short and spunky pink hair.

As Sakura bowled, unsuccessfully getting any points worth mentioning, Hinata tried to make herself hate Sakura. But after Sakura had sat down and it was now Hinata's turn to go up, she questioned herself.

She swung the ball close to the ground and let it roll out of her hand, she wondered why she should hate Sakura.

The ball collided with the pins and Hinata had bowled a strike, not meaning to.

"That's my girl!" Kiba cheered.

Naruto laughed, "She's better than you are," he said as he walked by, bringing back food for the guys at the other alley. Kiba turned around and punched him in the arm, causing Naruto to wince and spill some of his drink.

As Hinata finished her turn and walked back to her seat, she realized that Sakura didn't deserve her hate. Sakura was a beautiful young lady who had waited for so long to have Sasuke be hers. Just because Sakura was now jumping on her chance to be with Sasuke didn't make her a slut, nor did it make her deserving of Hinata's hate. After all, Sakura was trying to begin a relationship with her ex that had long since grown tired of Hinata.

She returned to Kiba's arm that was resting on the back of the seat, waiting for her to return. She then realized what her future would hold. It wouldn't hold Sasuke anymore, because both of them had decided to let each other go, although she might love him forever it seemed. But sometimes loving is letting go, and sometimes letting go is loving. Just because people grow apart, doesn't mean that their memories grow any further away. Like every relationship, this one had left a lasting impression on each of the parties. A lesson was learned, and now all that was left was to live with the burden of each other's memory, and to forget each other until they eventually forget why they ever remembered each other.

Hinata decided that she needed to take a break for a while, to think for a while with her own thoughts, in her own head. She turned to Kiba.

"Kiba, I have to use the restroom, can you please take my turn for me? I won't be long," she told him.

Kiba nodded and Hinata got up, "Are you sure you want him to take your turn, Hinata? He hasn't even scored eighty points this game!" Sakura exclaimed in a joking manner as she say Hinata walk up the stairs next to wear she was sitting.

Hinata smiled at her, "Well Sasuke is going to beat us all, so it doesn't really matter what he does to my score,"

At this compliment by Hinata, Sasuke's ears perked up. But such a compliment was one that he had heard for a long time. It was almost banal by now, but something about her dissociated smile made him feel differently. It was almost as if they were strangers who knew each other so well.

As he watched Sakura, the girl that he was giving a chance, get up to bowl, he too had a revolution. He realized that the smile Hinata gave Sakura was a smile of a stranger. And that was how they must be, strangers. He decided to make the memories of her a part of him, and to go back to being his old self, because something about Hinata made him want to protect her at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his identity.

So both Hinata and Sasuke had to face it, their relationship was toxic, and not meant to be.

Hinata looked at herself in the mirror, seeing the same face that she had seen every day for her whole life, but seeing it so differently.

She knew now that she could not waste her moments with Kiba, the fun loving boy who broke her away from her true love, by thinking of Sasuke. She reached her fingers under the automatic sink and the water turned on. She used the water from her fingers to smooth a piece of hair sticking up by her bangs that did not want to stay put.

The door swung open and a girl joined Hinata at the sink. Hinata was so intent on fixing her stray piece of hair that she didn't even notice the other reflection in her mirror.

"Oh hey Hinata," a sweet and charming voice said.

Hinata looked in the mirror at the female with her. It was Sakura, fixing her red lipstick in the mirror.

Hinata decided to suppress her initial jealous feeling and smile at Sakura through the mirror, "How'd the game go?" she asked, trying to make small talk and seem friendly.

Sakura sighed, shook her head, then smiled. "Sasuke beat all of us of course! And Kiba totally butchered your score," she replied.

Hinata laughed, "I knew that he would. Oh well, I'm sure that he had fun, and that's all that matters," Hinata then rewet her fingers and tugged away at the stray piece of hair by her bangs. Realizing soon that it was a hopeless cause, she decided to let it go.

Sakura chuckled a little bit, "Stray piece of hair? I get those all the time! Here, let me help you," Sakura pulled a brush out of her purse and wet it. She then began to tug away at Hinata's plum colored hair.

Miraculously, the piece stayed down. Hinata touched the piece of hair and tested out different views in the mirror of herself.

"Hey, you did it! Thanks so much! I was thinking that I'd never get it to stay down," she genuinely thanked Sakura.

Sakura nodded and smiled, "Well, we should get going, I'm sure the boys are waiting for us outside,"

Hinata nodded and thanked Sakura as she held the door open for her as they exited the bathroom.

"What took you so long?" Kiba said as Hinata walked up to him and Shino, standing by the glass doors of the bowling alley.

"My hair wouldn't stay down, but then Sakura helped me," Hinata told him with a smile.

Hinata looked to Sakura, who in turn winked and then interlaced fingers with Sasuke and left the building after yelling her goodbyes to everyone.

"She's sensational," Hinata thought. And she knew that she couldn't hate Sakura because she was with Sasuke. After all, Hinata found her happiness with someone else, so Sasuke could find his happiness with someone else too.

"Should we go? It's getting late," Kiba asked as he pulled out his car keys.

"Oh, yeah," Hinata said with a detached tone. She then followed him out to the car, holding his hand the whole way.

In the car, Kiba and Hinata were singing really loud and off key to songs on the radio. She was so used to Sasuke's serious attitude that she almost forgot what it was like to actually enjoy the person you're with.

When their song, Troublemaker by Olly Murs, ended, Kiba twisted the volume knob on his radio and turned the radio down.

"Hey," Hinata exclaimed. "What was that for? There was another one of our favorite coming on!"

Kiba bit his lip nervously, as if he had a confession to make. Hinata knew that face on any man, he was getting ready to break up with her. All that she could do was brace herself and be able to handle herself with dignity when the words came.

"So me and Shino were talking while you were fixing your hair in the bathroom—or whatever," Kiba swallowed hard. He was never good with emotional things, and words weren't his strong point either.

"And he told me that a lot of people were going around saying things," Kiba began to sweat, he tugged at his collar, and avoiding eye contact with Hinata because he didn't want to see her big doe eyes staring up at him expectantly.

"L-Like that I was just using you to get to Sasuke, or some other shit like that. But baby trust me, I really do like you," He finally got out.

Hinata blinked her eyes and knitted her eyebrows in confusion. Why hasn't he just said it yet?

"I-I mean I was just so mad when I saw you at the field on that night, that I wanted to do anything to get back at Sasuke. I thought that you were just a trophy girlfriend, or a wallflower. But after we sang in the car that first night when we were going to the diner, I realized how much I really do like you," Kiba clenched his jaw. His roughness and insensitivity to people's feelings was making this hard for him.

"And this last month with you has been amazing. I really think that I'm falling for you," Kiba clenched his steering wheel hard, sweating even more. He reached to turn on the air conditioner, although it was already so cold outside.

"Aw shit babe, I think I'm in love with you," Kiba managed to say. And after much stuttering and unsureness, he got it all out.

Hinata touched her lips gently with her hand and blushed. "I think that I'm in love with you too," she finally replied. But as she said it, Sasuke's face popped into her head, but she shook it off.

Kiba pulled up to a red light and smiled a wide, for once not lopsided, grin at her.

"Really?" he said.

Hinata nodded, "Then why don't you show me how much you love me?" Kiba said.

Hinata smiled, unbuckled, and practically attacked him with a kiss. His head his the window to the left of him, and they sat there, French kissing until some angry cars honked at him for not going.

As Kiba hit the gas to take Hinata home, she plopped back into her seat. She had never done anything like that before, but Kiba of course brought out the crazy side in her.

Kiba pulled up to the driveway of Hinata's house and turned off the car. She once again practically attacked him with her mouth and she was halfway on top of him, holding his face in her hands and kissing him. Kiba had his hands on her waist and he was holding her there. They kept kissing for about fifteen minutes. Finally, Hinata pulled away.

"I have to get inside, my dad will kill me for being out this late," she told him.

Kiba then moved to kissing her neck and Hinata laughed as he tickled it. "Just stay for a while, you're already out late, why not stay out later?" Kiba protested between kisses on her neck.

Hinata giggled, "I can't, I really can't," and suddenly, there was a knock on the car window. Both jumped to separate and Hinata's dad glared down at the two. He pointed to the house and Hinata blushed.

She kissed Kiba on the cheek before getting out and running to the house, avoiding talking to her dad, although he made it clear that he wanted to talk to her. She waved to Kiba when she was at the front door and he put his car in reverse and pulled out as fast he could.

Hinata slammed the door on her dad's face and walked upstairs to her room. Sure, she hadn't meant to be so mean to her father, in fact she was not mad at all, but she was on cloud nine right now. A boy, other than Sasuke, had told her that he loved her. That was enough to make her happy, and she knew then that there could be a future with Kiba, because unlike Sasuke, he would always remain constant and never change for power, influence, or anyone or anything.

Sasuke walked Sakura up to her doorstep.

Sakura smiled at him meekly, "Thanks for tonight, I had a lot of fun. Even if you kicked all of our butts at bowling,"

Sasuke smiled down at her as well, "No, thank you for showing me how to have fun again. I haven't had that much fun in years," and he honestly meant it. Hinata had changed him, although she had not intended to.

Sakura smiled and leaned in to kiss Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't sure if he was ready for this, because the moment their lips touched, he thought of Hinata. And Sakura didn't kiss like Hinata at all. Hinata was always gentle, but Sakura seemed more… needy.

"Goodnight Sakura," Sasuke said as they pulled apart, staring into each other's eyes.

"Goodnight Sasuke," Sakura returned as she twisted the knob to go inside. Both were happy, but Sasuke didn't know why Hinata always had to pop into his head and ruin everything.

He walked up the stairs to his familiar dark room and saw the clutter on the floor. He sighed, he hadn't cleaned his room since Hinata left, but mostly because he was too sad or exhausted to even have the willpower to clean his room.

But tonight, all his thought were running through his head, and he needed something physical to do to get those thoughts in order.

He thought of Hinata, and why he couldn't forget her, although he was sure he was over her. Wasn't he? After all, he was now out with Sakura, and she was the perfect girl. She was smart, funny, and completely charming. Hinata was shy, timid, and introverted. And yet, the history with the latter seemed more appealing than the history of the former. Especially considering that Sakura had punched him all those years ago for kissing her, but now she seemed to welcome it. How odd it is that people change so quickly.

But as he removed some dirty laundry, a hard object hit the floor. He looked to see what it was, it was his missing Geometry book from middle school. He had told everyone that it was lost, because for the most part it was. He picked up the old book and examined it.

And since he had to do something to get tonight off his mind, he opened the book. He read through the first chapter, that was introducing the terminology of Geometry. Sasuke read through things like adjacent angles, bisector, and other terms. He remembered Geometry being so easy for him, but that's because he was always good at math.

He suddenly stopped at a term that had no meaning then, but has meaning now. _Parallel: two lines that will never intersect_. Sasuke looked at this term good and hard before continuing to the actual lesson of the chapter.

He saw two lines that intersected once. But he knew from his time in Geometry that once two lines intersect once, they will never intersect again. Both lines will go on forever, but never meet again.

He then put the two terms into context of his life. He and Hinata were like the two lines, they intersected once, but they were never to intersect again. But of course, there could be other lines that intersect, but never the same line once.

And he and Sakura are parallel, so to speak. He and she are the two lines that will never intersect, although they'd like to, but their lives are so different. They live on different planes of the quadrant, and they can only see each other, but never intersect.

How sad the matter of Geometry was. How unfair it all was. But thinking in mathematical terms calmed him down, and allowed him to think clearly. Of course he had moved on, because he and Hinata could only intersect once, but he was also parallel with someone else.

Sasuke sighed and tossed the book aside, he didn't want to hear more bad news from an old Geometry book of all places. He then finished cleaning his room and went to bed, thinking of ways to get him and Sakura to intersect.

**I hope that you guys liked this chapter! It was 8 pages long and it took me FOREVER to get inspired to write it. Oh yes, and Kiba says something along the lines of, "Me and Shino", yes, I know that it should be "Shino and I," but considering it's Kiba, and he's a football player of average intelligence in this story, it seemed in character to put it that way. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! And tell your friends about it if you like it **** BTW, keep up those predictions of what will happen! It's so fun to read the reviews/comments that my readers leave! I love how attached some people get to the story **


	7. Chapter 7

**Seriously guys, I'm sick of your shit reviews. I'm sorry that I'm a better writer than all of you haters will ever be, or could ever dream of being. So back the fuck off. Until you guys have the balls to make an official account and comment on my story/stories, then don't fucking say anything. I'm so sorry that I'm better than you pussies will ever be **** k bye.**

Hinata and Sakura sat watching their boyfriend's play at an away game somewhere in a neighboring village. Neither knew where they were, they just knew that when they got into Sakura's car that afternoon, they were following the bus of boys in front of them.

It was a freezing night, and there was almost no one in the stands because the cold was so unbearable. Hinata was wearing a fleece jacket, with a long sleeved shirt underneath, paired with a tank top for extra warmth, a winter jacket, and jeans and cozy socks. And yet, her and Sakura were still huddled underneath the blanket that Hinata brought.

It was a blanket that Sasuke had given her, it was one of those tie blankets that he worked hard to make himself so that she could stay warm at all of his games. On one side the blanket was a pale yellow, and on the other side a pale purple, and it was just big enough for Sakura and Hinata to share together.

"Oh my Lord!" Sakura exclaimed throwing her head up to face the night sky. "Why is it so cold?" she asked shivering.

Hinata didn't answer, but as if to prove Sakura's statement, a chill ran down her spine.

They cheered as Sasuke handed off the ball to Kiba, who ran as fast as he could before getting tackled twenty yards later.

"So what college do you think you'll go to?" Sakura asked, reaching to grab her hot chocolate cup that was sitting beside her on the bleacher.

"I'm not sure, I was going to go to Konoha University with Sasuke, but now…" her voice trailed off.

Sakura nodded as if to tell her that she had said enough, and need not worry herself with saying more, "Well do you think you'll go to college with Kiba?" she asked, then she took a sip of her hot chocolate.

Hinata shrugged under the blanket, "I probably will, if things keep going the way that they're going. What about you? Where do you think you'll go?"

Sakura bit her lip and looked at the football field blankly, "Well I want to be a doctor, so I've applied to a college in Suna, but I could also stay here and go to Konoha University,"

Hinata nodded, "You don't think you'll go to college with Sasuke?" she asked. It seemed like an innocent enough question, but secretly Hinata was dying to know. She was sure that she was over Sasuke, but she still liked to hear updates about his life, as she was no longer in a state to have updates from him.

Sakura laughed, "No, I don't think I will. I know that he's trying to be an engineer of some sort, and I'm trying to do something in the medical field. We can't go to the same college when we both have different interests,"

"I agree," Hinata nodded. She and Sakura then took a break to scream as Kiba scored, yet another, touchdown.

"How's he doing by the way?" Hinata asked absent mindedly.

Sakura looked at Hinata a little confused, "He's doing fine, why?"

Hinata shook her head and reached to grab her hot chocolate, "I just was wondering,"

Sakura bit her bottom lip like she usually did when she was thinking. "You still love him don't you?"

Hinata tried to gasp while taking a sip of hot chocolate, but ended up joking instead. Sakura reached over to rub Hinata's back as she broke out into a coughing fit.

"W-What makes you say that?" Hinata asked breathing hard from her choking fit.

Sakura laughed once more and turned to face the field, "It's obvious, you just can't try to get over someone that you've spent most of your life with in such a short period of time,"

Hinata was about to say something, then it dawned on her. The reason why Sakura didn't want to go to college with Sasuke was because she knew that Sasuke wasn't over Hinata yet. This was both exciting and frightening, and yet totally unconfirmed.

"A-Are you not going to college with Sasuke because you know he can't forget…" Hinata's voice trailed off as she tried to find the way to word it.

Sakura nodded, knowing what Hinata meant, "That's part of it. The other part is it's our senior year, so it's too soon to change plans now,"

Hinata nodded and let the subject drop. She continued watching the game, and pretending to be so caught up in it so that Sakura wouldn't bring up any more uncomfortable topics.

But after third quarter was over, Sakura spoke again. "He's not over you, you know,"

Hinata stopped breathing. She then looked at her boots and clicked the toes of her boots together, not quite knowing how to reply, and not knowing if she should.

But once again, Sakura went on, as if she was never at a loss for words, "I'd like him to like me—in fact I'm ecstatic that he's even paying attention to me right now, but I know it when a man looks into my eyes and wants to see another," Sakura's green eyes filled with sadness.

Hinata looked at her sad green eyes, and realized her selfishness. Here was a girl that had been waiting over a decade to be with Sasuke, and here Hinata was, grabbing at anything she possibly could just to grab something that was him. Hinata looked up at the night sky, begging for answers from the heavens, but none came. The night was dark black and completely starless.

"Sakura," Hinata found herself saying, still looking up at the heavens. "You should have him, you've been waiting over a decade to get this close to him. I would be selfish if I told you that I still loved him and not to date him for my sake," Hinata squeezed her eyes shut, not realizing what she had said. But maybe it was her heart talking, maybe her heart was right.

Sakura looked at Hinata, and studied her face for a while, "You don't really mean that," she whispered.

Hinata turned her head from the sky to Sakura's pretty face, "I really do. I've been living without him for over a month, I can live without him for the rest of my life if I have to," she spoke with conviction, something that Hinata didn't do very often.

Sakura nodded, and tears filled her eyes, she wiped an escaping tear before speaking again, "Thanks Hinata, you're a true friend. But I can't change the way he feels; I can't make him love me if he doesn't,"

Hinata knitted her eyebrows in sadness for her new friend, "But you sure can try," she offered.

Sakura nodded and smiled through her tears, she then reached over and gave Hinata a big hug. And that was the last that the two spoke of this topic. Hinata felt like she finally had closure, and that for once in her life, happiness just wasn't for her or Sasuke, it was for someone else. It felt good to give someone else happiness, although she knew in her heart of hearts that she had to give away some of her happiness to give her friend happiness.

"That was some game, huh?" Sakura smiled at Hinata as they waited for the boys to come out of the locker room outside the stadium.

Hinata returned the smile and nodded.

"Hey babe," Kiba smirked as he ran over to where Hinata was standing. He pulled her into a big kiss and then once they separated, he went on about the game.

"I kicked ass! I got some good yardage and I scored like three touchdowns! And it was because I'm so good at what I do that we won tonight! If I keep doing this good, we'll win the championships for sure!" Kiba rambled. Hinata kissed his cheek in response to his big ramble. But secretly, she wondered why he was so full of energy and why he had self-confidence to spare. Couldn't he tell that she hadn't any self-confidence, let alone any to spare?

Soon Sasuke stalked out and he gave Sakura a light kiss on the lips. He was always a gentleman, so unlike Kiba with his big slobbery kisses and his cocky demeanor.

"You should come on the bus with us," Kiba excitedly said as he grabbed Hinata's hands and smiled down at her.

Hinata giggled, "But what will coach say?"

Kiba scrunched up his nose, "Fuck what coach says, we'll sneak you on the bus and I don't give a fucking damn if he gets pissed. After all it was because of my skills as a receiver that we won tonight," Kiba eyed Sasuke, looking for a fight.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to Sakura, "Can I ride with you home? I'd much rather be in a car with a beautiful girl than a bunch of loud football players,"

Sakura blushed and meekly smiled, "Of course you can Sasuke, but will Coach Asuma be okay with it?"

Sasuke nodded, "I'm sure he won't mind, I'm the captain and starting quarterback after all," he shot a look at Kiba, trying to indirectly tell him that he was the team captain, therefore he was better.

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Let's get on the bus and hide you babe," he then started to pull Hinata to the bus quickly and Hinata was struggling to keep up with his long legs.

Sasuke shook his head at the two and then he grabbed Sakura's hand and started walking with her to her car.

"Kiba, how many times do I have to tell you and everybody else here, that no girlfriends are allowed on the bus?" Coach Asuma scolded exhausted from the game tonight, and tired of Kiba's attitude.

Kiba smiled a cocky grin at him, "Well seeing as I pretty much won the game for you tonight, I'm sure that you can let this slide,"

Coach Asuma rolled his eyes and returned to the front of the bus to sleep. Kiba put his arm around Hinata, whom was embarrassed to be on a bus full of men. But of course, she was happy to be with Kiba, but there was an issue that needed to be addressed.

Kiba leaned his head against the bus window and closed his eyes for a moment. Hinata was resting her head on his shoulder, and was trying to work up the nerve to ask him.

"K-Kiba?" she finally spoke up after a few minutes.

"Hm?" Kiba mumbled, clearly he was exhausted from playing football, and it was about ten o'clock at night and he hadn't slept since he had gotten up for school earlier than morning.

"Where are you going to college at?" she asked him, remembering her and Sakura's conversation from earlier.

"Probably Konoha Community College, or if I can get that scholarship, Konoha University," he answered, still not opening his eyes to look at her.

Hinata paused for a moment, and it seemed that Kiba had already fallen asleep once again. Hinata bit her lip, wanting to say more, but not sure if she could.

"Well… Are we going to college together?" she tried again.

Kiba opened one eye to look at her, "Well yeah, I thought that we would," and then he closed his eye and tried to fall asleep once again.

"You thought we would?" she repeated in a question. She didn't like the sound of how indefinite his answer was.

"Babe, we will. Once I get my college stuff figured out, then I'll let you know and we can go from there okay? But for now, just sleep," he told her. He adjusted himself so that he was sitting parallel to the seat and the back of his head was on the cold bus window. Hinata nodded and she leaned back on him, and then she put her blanket over the both of them.

She was surprised at how well she could fall asleep in his arms, and she was surprised how comforting he was. Of course, he was a loud sleeper, he snored and sighed in his sleep like no other, but she was glad to have someone to cuddle with.

When the bus reached the school, the two had to be woken up, as it was almost midnight by the time they got home, and Kiba suggested that she just stay the night at his house, as he was too tired to drive her home.

Hinata agreed and when they reached his house, she plopped into bed with him and they both fell asleep.

Of course there was no funny business, because Hinata wasn't like that. Oh, but Kiba had said that they slept together hadn't he? Well sometimes boys say things to get each other mad, and Hinata knew that all too well.

When Hinata opened her eyes the next day, she could see the orange glow of the morning light shining through his blinds and into her eyes. She could feel his strong arms from behind around her and she sighed into his warmth.

She even looked over her shoulder to see her boyfriend sleeping, and she had to stop herself from laughing. Kiba was snoring and drooling on the pillow next to her. Hinata smiled up at the morning sun and thought of how Kiba's sleeping patterns mirrored that of his personality.

He was always loud, rambunctious, and completely unconventional, but she realized that she loved that about him. He was the other half of her that made her fun and daring, and she wanted to have a future with him. Sleeping beside him in her bra and underwear, and he in his boxers felt so right.

She adjusted herself in his arms and sighed and smiled as she closed her eyes and wished for this moment to never end.

And for all she knew, it wouldn't end, not anytime soon, because she was going to go to college with him, and he genuinely wanted to be with her.

For once in a long while, she didn't compare Kiba to Sasuke, because she knew that Sakura would take good care of Sasuke, and Sasuke and Kiba were two different loves in her life.

**Alright, because of shit reviews the guest review has now been turned off. Doesn't matter if you post a nice review, or another shit review like all of these jealous bitches have been posting lately, I will delete it and it will NOT be accepted.**

** Like seriously guys, back the fuck off. I'm growing as a writer, now you need to grow up as a human being you dicks and bitches **

***And to all my loyal readers who have been nothing but kind, thank you. I appreciate your kindness and I love every nice review that you post **** it makes me want to keep exceeding my past chapters and continue with the story because once the flow of reviews runs out, I have to make a new chapter to get more reviews! Love you my reader 3 (btw, sorry this chapter sucks. Didn't turn out at all like I had hoped it would in my head)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm finding continuing this story to be more and more of a chore -_- I just want to drop it all together! It didn't go at all as planned and frankly, I'm sick of my own story XD**

The camera light flashed and Hinata squinted her eyes.

"Mom," Kiba whined. "Can you stop taking pictures? We just want to go to the damn dance," he told his mom.

They were taking pictures in front of his house because it was time for the winter formal. Konoha's football team beat everyone in the championships; all that was left was to play Suna for the title. The boys were practicing hard, but they still wanted to have fun too. So almost all of the football players were taking their girlfriends, or dates, to the dance in celebration of their winning streak.

Kiba's mother frowned, "Fine, then go," and she walked out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Kiba rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Let's just go, she does this every time," he told Hinata.

Hinata nodded and they walked to the garage to get into his truck to go to the dance. Hinata was wearing a black bubble dress. The top of her dress was covered in black lace, then with a bow separating the bottom from the top. She put her hair in a simple up do, somewhat of a messy ponytail. And to top it all off, she wore black heels.

Kiba was simply wearing black pants with a red dress shirt and a red striped tie, because he didn't want to wear a suit.

When they reached the dance and made their way inside the school, they could hear music blasting from the speakers.

"Let's dance Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed as he practically pulled her to the dance floor. He got behind her and put his arms around her and they danced to the latest pop music played by the DJ.

But as Hinata was dancing with Kiba, in the less than appropriate fashion, she noticed Sakura was leading Sasuke to their area. She noticed Hinata and smiled and waved at her. Hinata returned the wave and waited until Sakura approached her to talk to her.

"You look great Sakura!" Hinata shouted to her over the loud music. Sakura was wearing a short strapless dress that had a purple flower pattern all over it. It seemed to be of sleek material and it looked amazing on Sakura. Sakura also curled her beautiful pink hair and put it half up and half down. Hinata couldn't help but feel a little jealous about Sakura's beauty.

"Thanks, you do too!" Sakura returned the compliment. Then she eyed Kiba and Hinata dancing and she smiled, "Mind if we join you?" she asked.

"No, not at all!" Hinata replied.

Sakura pulled Sasuke behind her and they started dancing like Kiba and Hinata were. It was extremely awkward for both Sasuke and Hinata to see the other dancing so close to another person, but they had to accept it, it was reality now.

"I hate that guy, do we have to stay here?" Kiba practically shouted in Hinata's ear. He was staring down Sasuke, who was staring him down as well.

"But Sakura's my friend!" Hinata protested.

"But that fucker isn't your friend," Kiba shouted, half to Hinata, and half to Sasuke. Sasuke's face hardened and he let go of Sakura.

Sasuke started to walk up to Kiba, the latter of which had already let Hinata go and was walking to meet Sasuke half way.

"Say that to my face dick," Sasuke challenged, getting up in Kiba's face, who was slightly shorter than him.

"You're a fucker, and not Hinata's friend," Kiba repeated, making sure to annunciate every word to make it perfectly clear to Sasuke.

But just before Sasuke could form a reply, Hinata squeezed herself between the two.

"Stop it, both of you! Don't ruin me and Sakura's night just because you're both jealous of each other!" Hinata cried. Sasuke looked taken aback and he stared down at Hinata, wondering where her sudden courage came from.

Kiba also stared down at Hinata, shocked that she stood up to them. Hinata looked from Kiba, then to Sasuke, and she walked off in a rush.

"She's right you know," Sakura spoke up, breaking through their moment of confusion. "You seriously have got to stop fighting. It's so stupid, and it's senior year. Let it go and have some fun," Sakura encouraged them.

"So I guess I'd better find my girlfriend then," Kiba said to Sasuke, hardly acknowledging Sakura and her speech.

"I'll help you look," Sasuke found himself saying. He wasn't sure why he had offered to help, but something in him told him that he needed to talk to Hinata.

Kiba nodded and they split up, leaving Sakura to wonder where they went, and with feelings of being abandoned.

Sasuke pushed through the crowds of dancing teens and sweating bodies trying to see if he could find Hinata's plum hair. After pushing through the crowd, and finding no sight of her plum hair, he decided to look elsewhere. If he knew Hinata at all, she would be somewhere where no one could find her. He thought of the hallways that were still open by careless janitors, or even the girl's restroom, but he would need Sakura to help with the latter, and he had lost her somewhere in the crowd, dateless.

Sasuke wondered to check the hallway near the gym, and saw that one was locked. He then walked into the cafeteria, and saw that the door was still unlocked. He slowly opened the door and let the light into the dark room. He listened to signs of crying, or breathing at least. When no noise became apparent, he decided to wonder into the cafeteria. He started checking under the tables, row by row.

When he came to the end of the last row of tables, he hoped for a miracle. He peered underneath the dirty table and saw Hinata sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest, facing the wall.

Sasuke smiled to himself and slipped in the gap between the bench and the table. He crawled to where she was and he sat cross legged beside her. She didn't seem to want to notice his presence at first, and she was secretly hoping that he would just get up and leave, but Sasuke figured he could hold out as long as she could.

"I'm sorry for constantly fighting with your boyfriend," Sasuke tried. He was trying to encourage her to speak to him, but she didn't want to speak to him at this moment.

"Could you at least say something? Kiba's worried sick about you and I offered to help him find you," Sasuke snapped.

Hinata turned to face him, her lavender eyes shining due to the light leaking through the cafeteria windows.

"Well thanks for helping him. Tell him I'm here and that he can come find me if he wants," she told Sasuke. She then buried her face in her knees, which were still pulled up to her chest.

Sasuke snickered, "Well where did your newfound courage come from?"

"It's always been there, I've just never voiced it," she replied.

"Why didn't you ever voice it?" Sasuke inquired further, running his fingers through his hair.

"Because if I did, you would get mad at me," Hinata simply put. Her voice a little muffled from having her head resting on her knees.

Sasuke thought about this for a moment, and tried to gauge a reply that was good enough.

"Well I'm sorry for that, I just got so caught up in trying to keep you safe that I didn't realize that I was just hurting you myself," he honestly told her. In a way, it felt good to tell her all of that, and he felt incredibly nostalgic at the same time.

"I miss you, you know," was all that Hinata could say. She wasn't sure if she accepted his apology, and she wasn't sure what she hoped to accomplish by telling him that she missed him, but she figured he'd better now how she felt before she found herself kissing him.

"I miss you too, you know," he replied, smiling sadly at her.

"This feels like old times," Hinata grinned a little bit, before her grin was replaced by sadness.

"Yeah, it does," Sasuke whispered, looking at the wall. He remembered how some boys were making fun of her in eighth grade in class, and after school she ran to the park crying. Sasuke had to look for her for about two hours before he found her hiding under a wooden picnic table in the dark, cold and alone.

"Well, I suppose we should get back to Kiba," Sasuke finally spoke.

Hinata nodded, "Yeah we should… Would you walk me there?" she asked.

Sasuke slipped in the gap of the bench and table and he offered his hand to her, "Of course I will," he smiled as she grabbed his hand and he helped her get out from under the table.

They walked in silence back to the gym, but something about it felt like home somehow. Hinata enjoyed the familiar smell of his cologne, and his willingness to be a gentleman. Sasuke enjoyed the feeling of being the protector that Hinata gave him.

Maybe it was this innocence about her that made him crazy before.

"Hinata," Kiba yelled out. He started rushing up to her, with Sakura in tow. "Where were you? We thought you left!"

"I just had to go somewhere to be alone for a while, but Sasuke found me and told me how worried about me you were," she joked.

Kiba's cheeks turned bright red, "I wasn't worried, just concerned you know? I didn't want you to leave when I paid so much for these tickets," he lied.

Hinata laughed and grabbed his hand, "Thanks so much Sasuke," she thanked him before walking back with Kiba to the dance floor.

Sakura walked up to Sasuke and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You had a heart-to-heart I take it?"

"Yeah… Something like that," Sasuke was surprised that Sakura knew what was going on, but then again, Sakura was a smart girl, she wasn't one to be fooled so easily.

"Should we go back and dance?" she suggested.

"Yeah," Sasuke flatly replied. He grabbed her hand and led her to the dance floor, but something about all of it felt wrong to him, and yet he was swimming in bliss because of Hinata's confession to him.

Never did he think that him and Hinata could be so in love, but so apart.

**Yeah. So this chapter sucked. I was just desperate for some action, and I wasn't too worried about stopping to explain emotions. I'm bored with my own story, and I will say it loud and proud! Because I don't usually go this long with stories lol (and now I'm finding that there is a reason for that) Well review, but remember, if you hate on my story, I won't hesitate to kick your ass you talentless pigs **


	9. Chapter 9

**I've said it once, and I'll say it again, I'm sick of haters, and I don't want your "criticism", if I wanted it, I would've asked for it, but obviously I don't. Go hate on other stories that suck more than this one.**** No more shit reviews****, I hate them. If you have a problem with my story, go to the search box and find another story instead of hating on it. Yes! It's just that easy folks **** (and btw, my last chapter was 5, almost 6 pages long. So don't you dare tell me it was short!)**

It was finally the championship game against Suna, and it was at Konoha's field. A good portion of the student body was at the game, even though it was freezing cold that night. Sakura and Hinata were once again, wrapped under a blanket with layers and layers of clothes on each of them.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous! I hope we win!" Sakura said through chattering teeth.

"Well even if we don't, I'm proud of our team for making it this far," Hinata told Sakura. She was secretly happy for Sasuke, because it was his long-time dream to make it to the championships. Of course she was glad for Kiba too, but Kiba was always so full of himself that it wasn't like he needed the encouragement. But Sasuke seemed really excited, yet focused; she could tell just by looking at his quivering body, and it wasn't from the cold.

It was the fourth quarter, and the game was close. Suna was winning, but by barely. It was nothing that Sasuke couldn't fix with his amazing ability to read the defense, and strategize with the offense.

But just as Sasuke was looking for someone to pass the ball to as soon as the whistle blew to begin the play, an offensive guard slipped up. He hadn't gotten a good enough grip on the defensive tackle and he was easily thrown off balance and pushed down. The defensive tackle seized this opportunity to rush towards Sasuke and tackle him in an unorthodox way.

The tackle bumped helmets with Sasuke so hard that Hinata shuddered at the loud sound. The defensive player got penalized for helmet-to-helmet collision and as a result, Konoha gained fifteen yards and an automatic first down. The school's official athletic nurse rushed to where Sasuke was and asked if he could get up. Sasuke shook his head and tried to stand up, but upon standing up, everything was spinning and he fell right back down.

Sasuke was pulled off the field and taken away by the paramedics waiting on the football field. He suffered from a really bad concussion, and the team suffered from the loss of their captain and quarterback.

Sakura put her hands over her mouth, "They're taking him away! Why are they taking him away? We should follow them!" she reached for Hinata's hand fanatically and stared at her in shock.

Hinata stared into Sakura's shocked green eyes for a moment, then shook her head. "We should stay and watch the game. It'll be a while before we can see him anyway, they have to run tests and stuff," she tried to comfort Sakura.

But Sakura just shook her head again, "But Sasuke's hurt! We have to help him!"

"There's nothing we can do, it's up to the medical professionals now," she told Sakura with conviction.

Finally, Sakura calmed down just enough to think rationally. She let out a heavy sigh and moved her hands to her lap, "Okay," she murmured, still not totally convinced that Sasuke would be okay without her.

Hinata gulped and looked down at the game, Coach Asuma was giving the second string quarterback, Suigetsu, who usually played as a running back, the low down. Asuma called for a timeout, obviously nervous that Sasuke had been injured and the game was in the fourth quarter. Suigetsu barely had any experience as a quarterback, all that he could do was catch the ball and run really fast, and Asuma hope that that would be enough to win the championships.

Hinata's head was pounding. She remembered that this had happened to Sasuke before, and this would be his second bad concussion, and he might not be able to play again because of this. She immediately scolded herself for worrying, because if she knew Sasuke at all, he would find a way.

The game continued on, and Suigetsu seemed nervous, he was making a lot of wrong moves, most of which were due to his hesitancy. When the four downs allotted came and went and it was time for Konoha to be on the defense, Asuma grabbed Suigetsu by the face mask and gave him a stern talking to. Hinata didn't know what Asuma had said, but Suigetsu didn't hesitate or mess up after that.

And much to put a damper on everyone's mood, the game wasn't even close. Suigetsu scored two touchdowns with the help of Kiba and Naruto and their kicker, Shino, scored two field goals following the touchdowns. Although it didn't come as a surprise to the crowd of Konoha High School that their team won, they still let out a loud cheer when the final buzzer rang and it turned out that Konoha had won the championships.

Hinata and Sakura leaped to their feet, "They did it! They won the championships!" Sakura exclaimed through the loud cheers of the crowd.

Hinata nodded and smiled, "I knew they would,"

She looked down to the field, where Coach Asuma was giving encouraging words to Suigetsu as his team beat on his helmet and shoved him around in congratulations. Hinata couldn't help but feel as if young Suigetsu was a young Sasuke. She remembered when Sasuke was given the opportunity to play as second string quarterback for the Varsity team when their quarterback at the time got injured. He led the team to victory with his level head and good decision making. It was that game that secured Sasuke's position as the future starting quarterback for Konoha.

Sakura grabbed Hinata's hand and stared into her lavender eyes, "We have to go see Sasuke at the hospital," she told Hinata.

Hinata nodded and looked once more down at the field, Kiba was smiling brightly, and she thought of telling him where she was going, or at least running down to congratulate him before she left. But instead, Hinata grabbed the blanket that Sasuke gave her and she ran down the bleachers, through the excited crowd to Sakura's car. They leaped into the car and escaped the parking lot with ease, because most people were hanging around in the bleachers with excitement over their school's victory.

"Who did you say you wanted to see?" the lady at the front desk of the hospital asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura firmly stated.

The lady nodded and typed away at her computer. Sakura uneasily bit her lip and shifted her weight, her mind immediately went to thinking that Sasuke was seriously injured. Hinata patted Sakura's back, trying to reassure her a little bit.

"He's in room 154," the lady finally said. "I'll have my volunteer take you there," she told the two girls. Sakura nodded and looked around for the volunteer who was to guide them desperately. Hinata could feel Sakura's worry, and she tried not to worry herself. The last thing Sasuke needed was two girls bursting into his room with petty tears and good intentions to annoy him.

They followed the young volunteer down the hallway to a room, where he knocked on the door before entering.

"There's some ladies here to see you Mr. Uchiha," the volunteer said with a smile. Sasuke mumbled something inaudible and the volunteer ushered the two ladies in.

"Sasuke!" Sakura practically screamed. She ran over to the bed where Sasuke was laying and she gave him a big hug. She started to cry on him and tell him how worried she was, but Sasuke didn't seem to care for her stupid tears.

His eyes were firmly focused on Hinata, and she felt quite uncomfortable at his gaze, and yet, it felt like he needed her. She walked into the room.

"How are you feeling?" she softly asked. Sasuke pulled Sakura's arms off of him and motioned for her to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I'm fine," he shortly put.

"That's good," Hinata mumbled. She stared down at her boots, everything was coming back to her now. She was just like Sakura when he had gotten his first concussion last year, and Sasuke told her to quiet her crying because it was giving him a headache. But Sasuke didn't try to tell Sakura to quiet down, he just let her carry on with her senseless babbling, as if she was trying to fill the air with the concern and prove to him that she cared for him.

Hinata scooted over to a seat in the corner and watched as Sakura kept on rambling. She started to go into all of the emotions that she felt when he got hurt, and Sasuke listened with disinterest. Hinata wondered why Sasuke wasn't telling her to shut up yet, then she realized that he didn't want to push Sakura away like he pushed her away. As if their conversation at the Winter Formal wasn't enough, Sasuke had to go the extra mile to be on his best behavior in front of her too.

Hinata felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket and she wriggled it out to see who was calling her. Her and Kiba's picture flashed on her screen and she clicked the talk button.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Babe, where are you?" Kiba asked. She could hear the noise of the loud crowd in the background.

"I'm at the hospital visiting Sasuke with Sakura," she told him. She eyed Sasuke, who's eyes were now on her, and she looked to Sakura, still senselessly talking away.

Kiba paused for a moment, "Why are you visiting that fag?"

Hinata bit her lip and thought for a moment, "Because I care enough to see how he's doing," she said half to Kiba, and half to Sasuke, as she was looking him dead in his onyx eyes. A small smile creeped across Sasuke's face and he turned back to Sakura.

"Seriously?" Kiba asked, sounding unamused with her treachery.

"Yes, seriously," Hinata replied. After she said that, she realized how stupid her reply sounded.

Kiba sighed, "Fine, what hospital are you at? I'm on my way,"

Hinata smiled at her lap, "I'm at Konoha North,"

Kiba walked into Sasuke's room without knocking and went straight to where Hinata was sitting and kneeled down in front of her.

"C'mon, let's go home," he ordered, grabbing on her hand and tugging on it slightly.

Hinata stared down at Kiba, with a small tired smile across her lips, and she shook her head.

Kiba knitted his eyebrows and grew visibly cross, "Why not?"

"Because I'm staying here with Sakura and Sasuke," she told him.

Kiba frowned and stood up, pulling on Hinata's hand even more now, "Why? You don't even like him," Kiba looked to Sasuke, "And _we're_ going home,"

Kiba pulled so hard on Hinata's hand and he peeled her from her seat. He kept pulling on her hand so that she would get the idea and walk out of the room with him. Hinata walked a few steps with him, and saw the look on Sasuke's face. For Sasuke, it was like Kiba taking Hinata away from him all over again.

Hinata stopped in her tracks and shifted her body weight to pull back on Kiba's hand, "I want to stay," she tried once more.

Kiba stared down at her, angry. Angry because he was losing the girl that he had come to love, and angry because Sasuke was winning again.

"Why do you want to stay?" Kiba asked again with frustration seeping into his voice.

"Because I just want to stay for my friend," Hinata replied, exasperated at the fact that Kiba wouldn't understand, and that she couldn't think up of a better excuse other than to stay with Sakura.

"Is it because you fucking love him?" Kiba challenged, dropping Hinata's hand and taking a step to stare down at her soft, flawless face.

Hinata started to shake, if she answered yes, she lost Kiba. If she answered no, she lost Sasuke. She had to pick between two guys that she loved; Sasuke whom she had loved over a decade, and Kiba whom she had loved for a little over a few months.

Kiba shook his head, trying to hold onto his angry expression and yet trying not to cry. He turned away from Hinata and walked quickly out of the room. It all happened so fast that Hinata couldn't process what happened, Kiba was well into the hallway before she snapped out of it and decided to run out to him.

"Kiba!" she shouted down the hallway, tears starting to stream down her face. But Kiba didn't look back, not even once, he just rounded the corner and left her there, standing alone with her tears and confusion.

As he got to his car, he hit the steering wheel hard, and then repeatedly hit it. He looked at his phone that he placed in his car's cup holder and saw his screen saver was him and Hinata with ice cream cones in hand and they were laughing because they both smashed their ice cream cones into each other's face. He shook his head once more and he turned his phone so that he screen was facing down. He started his car and started to drive to the park, where he could at least sit, look at the stars, and think. He knew that he loved Hinata, but he wasn't sure if she loved him anymore. Little by little, day by day, she was slipping away from him. And he never knew that that could hurt so much.

**This was six pages long, so no, it's not short. And no hating! I got crap for not putting "emotion" into my last chapter, so I did on this one, and then I got crap from a stupid Polish girl who could barely speak English (and I refuse to fight with a bitch like that anymore). There are other stories that suck out there, in fact, if you guys need help, PM me and I'll direct you to some pretty sucky stories, so that way you can get your little jealous hate out of your system. **

**This was a dramatic chapter, and a lot happened, so to all my nice reviewers and fans, leave me a good review, and tell me what you think will happen next! Cuz I know what will happen next! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**I had a dream last night about this story, and I woke up today feeling like I finally have an ending ready **** boy it was a nice dream…. Besides my ex taking on the role of Sasuke for some reason o.o and Taylor Swift was playing in my dream… Like whaaaat?**

Sakura had dropped Hinata off at her house and Hinata waved to her as she pulled out of the drive way. But for some reason, Hinata didn't want to go inside. She was staring at the keypad of the garage door opener and had her finger on the first number of the passcode, but for some reason she couldn't will herself to open the garage door. Something felt off to her, and she knew what it was. It was her conflicting feelings for Sasuke and Kiba.

She sighed and closed the opener and stuck her hands in her pocket. It was late at night, maybe midnight, maybe past midnight, she didn't care to check though. She started to walk down her driveway and took the familiar route to the park. She chuckled to herself as she remembered the time her and Sasuke snuck out to the park, it was probably freshmen year now that she thought about it.

They had climbed the old tree whose branches stretched across the park and provided a loving shadow on hot summer days. They were talking and Sasuke decided that he was going to jump from one of the branches. After he jumped safely to the ground, he begged Hinata to jump into his arms.

_ "I'll catch you, I promise," he told her, arms outstretched._

_ Hinata shook her head and held onto the truck of the old tree, "No, I can't! I'm too scared!" she yelled down to him. It was about eight or ten feet to the bottom, and Hinata knew that she was too afraid of heights to even think about jumping._

_ "I'll catch you, just do it!" Sasuke encouraged her._

_ "No!" Hinata protested desperately, still holding onto the truck and squeezing her eyes shut._

_ "Jump off the damn tree!" Sasuke shouted. He wasn't angry, but he knew that if he got stern with her, she would stop being such a baby._

_ Hinata opened her eyes and looked down again, then she promptly shook her head rapidly._

_ "On the count of three one, two—" _

_ "You'll catch me right? You promise?" Hinata frantically asked._

_ "Of course Hinata!" he reassured her, then he continued with his countdown, "One, two… Three!"_

_ On three Hinata threw herself from the tree, and Sasuke had to rush to catch her because she was falling in a weird position, but of course, her eyes were closed. Sasuke caught her though, and he fell to the ground, with Hinata sitting on top of him._

_ She finally opened her eyes, "You caught me!" she beamed, as if she had any doubt in him in the first place._

_ "Of course I did," Sasuke smiled at her from the ground. Hinata giggled and leaned down to kiss him._

Hinata patted the old tree lovingly as she reached the park. It was dark, and the ground was still wet from an earlier afternoon autumn rainstorm. The park was dimly lit, with street lights barely providing enough light for midnight walkers to see clearly. The fallen leaves crunched underneath her boot and she breathed in the crisp air. She needed to think clearly, so she stared up at the large moon.

She closed her eyes to try to clear her mind, but then she heard a cough. She whipped around to see Kiba sitting at a picnic table with his back to her. She was surprised that he hadn't heard her, but then again, maybe he did, but he just didn't care. Hinata stared at his back with his familiar messy brown hair and she wondered if she should approach him. She wanted to make things right, to tell him how she really felt, but she wasn't sure if that was a good idea.

"You know, you can stop staring at me and just come sit with me," Kiba coldly said, not even turning around to meet her gaze. Hinata nodded, although Kiba couldn't see it, and she walked briskly to where he was sitting.

She sat across from him, trying to read his expression, but he turned his eyes away from her and stared at the old wood of the picnic table. He didn't want her to see that his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and many tears.

"Kiba," Hinata whispered, looking at him with concern. Kiba growled and turned his gaze to a nearby tree.

"I'm sorry," she finally said after a big swallow.

"For what?" Kiba snapped, jerking his head toward her with angry and hurt eyes.

"For what happened at the hospital," Hinata restated. She knew that Kiba was hurt and upset, but she had to hold her ground and be the strong one through his emotional turmoil.

Kiba humorlessly laughed, "So you're sorry for breaking my heart, and not saying anything to reassure me that you don't still love that bastard,"

Hinata bit her bottom lip, and tried to think of an adequate answer. But for Kiba, she took too long and he growled once more and he jerked his head away from her again, trying to choke back his tears.

"Kiba," Hinata finally spoke up. "I can't tell you that I don't love him anymore, because I think that I always will,"

Kiba knitted his eyebrows and started to pout as he slowly turned his head back to Hinata, "Then why did you say that you fucking loved me?"

Hinata swallowed hard, trying to fight back tears as well, because Kiba was so sad when he cried. "Because I do love you, just not in the way that I love Sasuke,"

"Then why didn't you tell me that before?" Kiba asked, growing progressively angry. He was angry that Hinata had this effect on him, and that he was about to cry in front of her.

Hinata shook her head, "Because I couldn't make that distinction until today,"

Kiba laughed humorlessly once more, "So you led me on," he accused.

"No—nothing like that!" Hinata started to protest. "Kiba, I'm really sorry about everything. But just remember, there are other girls out there for you. Some stupid girl in high school who broke your heart won't seem important in twenty years," she smiled sadly.

"If some girl who broke my heart in high school won't matter in twenty years, then why does Sasuke still matter?" Kiba challenged.

Hinata paused to think, "Because when you spend about a decade with a person always by your side, it's hard to forget them so easily,"

Kiba shook his head, "Maybe I won't understand that, ever. But how do I forget about you now? I really thought I loved you,"

Hinata placed her hands in her lap and looked down at them. "Well, I suppose it just gets better with time," was all that she could over.

Kiba stared at her blankly, "But how much time?"

"As much or as little time as you want it to take," Hinata told him, looking up from her lap.

Kiba nodded, "So I could be over you by tomorrow is what you're getting at?"

"If that's what you want," Hinata shrugged.

Kiba nodded blankly once more, his head seemed to be somewhere else. "You should go talk to him," he said apathetically, obviously still in a daze.

Hinata offered him a smile, "I think I'll go do that now," she got up from the picnic table and she walked over to Kiba, still sweaty from the game.

"Thank you," she whispered into his ear before kissing his cheek. Kiba nodded absentmindedly, but his facial expression showed the warning signs of crying once again, for the hundredth time since he left the hospital.

Hinata started to walk in the direction of Sasuke's house, and she wrapped her arms around herself against the cold wind. She wanted to look back at Kiba, and part of her wanted to forget Sasuke and run back to Kiba, who honestly loved her. But at the same time, she realized that she couldn't be with someone and give them her all when half of her was still with someone else. For as long and hard as it was for her to accept it, she finally accepted that Sasuke would always have a piece of her, and she was hoping that she still had a piece of him.

She crossed the road under the dim glow of the street lights and neared Sasuke's neighborhood, which wasn't too far from the park. She thought of how nervous she was when she saw him get hurt, and when he was taken away to the hospital she thought that she was going to explode. But seeing Sasuke grow up so much, and seeing Sasuke be on his best behavior (even through Sakura's senseless chatter) made her realize how hard he was trying for her. Hinata knew who she belonged with now.

She crossed the street once more, and walked up to Sasuke's house. It was a nice house, and he lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods in town because his family was extremely wealthy. She climbed the steps to his front door, and she realized that ringing the doorbell would be rather rude of her. Hinata stood at the door, freezing and exhausted. She kept looking from her boots to the door, then back again.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, not expecting anyone to come to the door because all of the lights seemed to be off. It seemed to her that it was extremely late, or really early. She didn't have her phone on her, so she couldn't check the time. When there came no answer, or any sign of an answer, she knocked on the door once more. She decided that after this knock if no one came to the door, she would go home and give up. Or maybe call Sasuke the next day.

Inside, a sleeping Sasuke awoke to the sound of a knock on the door. He had fallen asleep on the couch when Itachi came to take him home because he was too tired and too weak to even think about going upstairs. He was still half asleep when he stumbled over to the door with sleepy eyes. He turned on the porch light and opened the door. Much to his surprise, he saw Hinata. He had to blink a few times and rub his eyes.

"Hi," Hinata softly said. She looked exhausted and like she hadn't slept in days. Sasuke stared down at her, mouth gaping a tad.

"Can I come in?" Hinata asked shifting her weight uneasily. Sasuke did not answer, but kept staring down at her, not believing his eyes. Finally, he swallowed, and slammed the door, leaving Hinata in the cold outside.

**Ha ha! Sasuke is still his old self… Or is he? Boy I was excited about this chapter, so much sadness TT-TT leave me a review! :D a nice one! I don't care what you critics or haters have to say so don't waste your breath **


	11. Chapter 11

Hinata shook her head incredulously, not believing that Sasuke had done that to her. She didn't want to wait around for Sasuke to turn off the porch light, so she rushed down the steps of his house and stared running in the direction of her house.

Sasuke opened the door when he noticed that she was gone, and he realized what it must've felt like to Hinata for him to slam the door on her face.

"Shit," he muttered. He then took off in a running sprint to catch up with her, because she was fast for her size and she was well down the block by this time.

Hinata ran down the block, with tears in her eyes, and she stopped once she heard Sasuke getting closer. She whipped around to face him, visibly distressed.

"Why did you just walk away like that? I threw away everything that I ever had with Kiba because I thought that you still loved me," she swallowed hard and shook her head hard, with tears begging to be let out, "I'm a stupid woman," she whispered.

Sasuke gave her a puzzled look and took a step towards her, "I was just going to get this," he pulled out her old beat up yellow scarf from the back pocket of his jeans and Hinata whimpered. She then let out a tear, of relief and joy.

"You kept it after all this time?" she asked wiping a tear from under her eye.

Sasuke took another step towards her, "Of course I did, I couldn't forget about you after all of this time,"

Hinata's body jolted forward with her insistent sobs and she pursed her lips together, trying not to make any more noises to signify just how distressed she was.

Sasuke watched as she cried, and finally decided to do something about it. He cautiously walked forward, and took Hinata into his arms. She cried even harder into his shirt as she breathed in his scent, the scent that she missed so dearly. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Hinata firmly and he leaned down and pressed his cheek against the top of her head. He rocked from side to side slightly as she clung to the front of his shirt.

"Hinata," Sasuke finally whispered.

"Hm?" she managed to get out between sobs.

"I've missed you… So much," he softly spoke, barely audible. Hinata moved her head from his shoulder and looked into his warm eyes. She shook her head and bit her bottom lip, and then she cried even harder, as if that were possible at this point.

"Me too, me too," she choked out.

Sasuke smoothed down her ruffled hair in the back and he kissed the top of her head, like he used to do when she would come to him crying because boys were bullying her. He now understood the reason why he was so overprotective, because Hinata used to get bullied by boys in middle school, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. He swore to himself that he'd never see her cry again, but he never knew that she would be crying because of him.

"I love you," he said as he pulled her closer into him.

"I love you too," she told him, burying her head in his chest.

Sasuke looked up at the sky, it was becoming light again. He realized that Hinata was tired and emotional, and he was tired as well and feeling sore and sick from his concussion.

"We should go back to my place," he suggested, looking up at the sky. Hinata removed herself from him and she looked up at the sky as well.

She smiled at him, "Yeah, we should," and with that, Sasuke grabbed her hand and started leading her home. Once home, they crawled into his bed and slept side by side. Sasuke was holding her from behind, not wanting to let go of her ever again. It was strange to have Hinata back with him, but it was a good kind of strange, because he knew that it wouldn't take him long to get used to having her back again.

He remembered the first time she had spent the night with him. They had snuck out to the park, and he was playfully chasing Hinata and she stepped into a pot hole and twisted her ankle. Sasuke felt guilty for doing that to her, and he carried her all the way back to his home, which was not as far as her home was. At his home, they snuck back in through the back door and he wrapped her ankle for her. They were both tired at this point, so he took her to his room and they slept side by side. They were probably sophomores in high school at this time, but all of their memories seemed to blur together because there was so many memories.

By the time both of them woke up, it was about eleven a.m. All of Sasuke's family had gone to work, including Itachi who worked with their parents at the police department. Hinata rolled over, stretched, and smiled at Sasuke, who was already awake. She kissed him, which was something that she hadn't done in over three months.

"Good morning sunshine," she said in a sing song voice. She usually greeted him in the morning like that, and Sasuke grinned at the sound of her voice before kissing her. He then rolled over on his back, placing his arms behind his head and he looked at the digital clock and frowned.

"It's almost lunch time," he informed Hinata.

"Well what if I made breakfast?" she asked, crawling onto his chest and staring into his dark eyes.

"That'd be nice," Sasuke lazily said as he played with her messy plum hair.

Hinata nodded and kissed him, before throwing the covers off and looking in Sasuke's drawers for her over night clothes, hoping that he hadn't gotten rid of them. When she searched to no avail, she frowned and pulled out one of his football shirts and boxers. She peeled off her dirty shirt that she had been wearing since last night and she put on Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke watched her change and smirked, he was surprised that she was still comfortable with changing in front of him. Hinata then peeled off her skinny jeans and slipped on Sasuke's boxers. His clothes were big on her, because he was about 6'1 and she was only 5'2, but she looked adorable.

She then crawled on the bed and gave him another kiss, "Go take a shower, I'll go cook. What do you want to eat?" she asked him.

Sasuke stretched his arms above his head and let out a sigh, "Whatever you want," he said before getting up and heading to the bathroom next to his room.

Hinata went downstairs to make Sasuke's favorite, chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. She always made this for him when she slept over, and Sasuke's parents didn't seem to mind that a girl was sleeping with their son. She always liked his parents because they weren't as stern as hers, and they were a loving family that joked around with each other a lot.

She walked into the familiar pantry and went straight to the spot where the pancake mix used to be kept. She smiled when she found it in its correct spot, realizing that even though she had been gone for three months, nothing had changed.

Hinata put the mix in the bowl and began to add milk, eggs, oil, and chocolate chips. She heard the doorbell ring and she smoothed out her shirt and went to answer it, still hearing the water running from upstairs.

She opened the door with a smile, until she saw Sakura. Sakura looked her up and down, and then sadly smiled, "So I take it you guys are back together, huh?" she asked. Her face expression was sad, and she had a cake in her arms. It was strawberry cake with chocolate frosting, Sasuke's favorite.

Hinata immediately felt guilty, realizing that she ruined the happiness of a friend, a friend who had been nothing but nice and true to her. She shifted her weight uneasily, "Yeah… Kind of," was all that Hinata could muster.

"Want to come in?" she offered. Sakura nodded and walked inside. She was wearing dark jeans, brown scrunched boots up to her the middle of her shins, and a pink sweater with a gray sparkly scarf. Sakura had put her hair up in a ponytail with a flower in her hair. She looked cute and beautiful, and Hinata immediately became self-conscious of her own attire, which was less than appealing.

Sakura sat the cake down on the granite kitchen counter and leaned up against it, looking at the pancake mix and raw bacon sitting out. She raised an eyebrow, "Breakfast this late?"

Hinata took her position at the stove and she poured the mix onto the skillet, "Well we woke up late so I figured I'd make breakfast while Sasuke takes a shower," she felt guilty once more, for saying "we woke up late", because in all honesty, it should've been Sakura next to him. But despite Sakura's pain stricken expression, she was being polite and controlled. Hinata wished that she could've been like that last night when Sasuke slammed the door on her face, but Sakura just oozed refinedness and maturity. It was something that Hinata couldn't match with her nervous and cute demeanor.

"Oh I see," Sakura said, watching Hinata pour the pancake batter on the skillet absentmindedly.

"Want to stay for breakfast?" Hinata offered, hoping that this would somehow magically make it up to Sakura.

"I'd love to, do you know when Sasuke will be down?" she asked with a polite smile. Hinata knew that Sakura was trying to be a good sport about it all, but inside she must've been upset.

"Um," Hinata thought, flipping the pancakes. "Soon I think, he usually takes pretty quick showers,"

And as if to prove Hinata's point, they could hear Sasuke bounding down the stairs. He rounded the corner with a big smile on his face, but when he saw Sakura, his smile immediately faded.

"Oh, Sakura," he said, staring at her with guilt.

"Sasuke, I brought you cake," she motioned to the cake that was behind her on the granite counter.

"Oh my favorite, thank you," Sasuke said, without much emotion. He looked to Hinata puzzled and she just gave him a reassuring smile.

"Do you mind if we talk in the other room?" Sakura asked, knitting her eyebrows together and cocking her head.

Sasuke looked to Hinata for an answer and Hinata spoke up, "Breakfast will take a while longer to get together," she rushed out. Sasuke nodded and started to walk to the living room, Sakura followed him.

He took a seat on the brown leather couch and Sakura sat in an arm chair adjacent to him. He waited to her to speak.

"I-I just have so many things to say," she said, leaning over and placing her elbows on her knees and folding her hands before bringing them to her mouth.

Sasuke nodded, "Well where do you want to begin?" usually he would've kicked her out, and refused to answer her questions, or even speak to her, but after Hinata's absence, he was a changed man.

"Do you love her?" Sakura asked, knowing what to expect, but not wanting him to say it.

"Yes," Sasuke simply replied. Sakura whimpered at his immediate answer, he didn't even have to think about it.

"Do you love me?" she tried.

"No," Sasuke answered just as straightforward as before. He didn't see the point in beating around the bush, or in senseless extra details. He wanted to keep the conversation short, and straightforward, which was sometimes mistaken for meanness.

"Then why did you date me?" she dared to ask quietly.

Sasuke sighed and shifted in his seat, "Because you had liked me for so long and Hinata was with Kiba, so I figured that I'd better give you a chance,"

Sakura looked at him with tears in her eyes, her sophisticated demeanor was fading quickly. "Thank you," she choked out.

"For what?" Sasuke asked, puzzled.

"For giving me a chance to be with you, even if it was just for a short amount of time," she stared at the mocha colored carpet somberly.

Sasuke immediately felt bad for her, because she didn't deserve to be led on and used to get over Hinata, which in the end, didn't work.

"Please don't take it personally," Sasuke tried his hand at making Sakura feel better, but he was only experienced with making Hinata feel better so he had to try hard to be sensitive to her feelings. "It was my fault, and you really are a great girl. I always thought that I wanted to date a girl like you,"

Sakura looked up at him hopefully, and then wiped a tear from her cheek. "Don't say that, you and Hinata have a beautiful relationship, and I'm happy for you two. Hinata is one of my best friends, and as long as she's happy, I'm happy," Sakura then got up, with tears streaking her pretty complexion and she walked over to Sasuke. She kneeled before him and ran her fingers through his soft dark hair, and stroked his face sadly. She leaned in and kissed him, and Sasuke let her.

"Time for breakfast," Hinata called as she peeked her head through the doorway. She saw Sakura kiss Sasuke and she smiled to herself as she leaned against the archway. Hinata knew that Sakura deserved that kiss after all of the horrible things that she and Sasuke did to the poor girl. Sakura got up from Sasuke and walked over to the kitchen to help set up for breakfast.

Sasuke walked over to Hinata, who was still leaning against the archway, and he put his hand on the small of her back. Hinata looked up at Sasuke, and he gave her a light peck on the lips, as if to reassure her that he still loved her. But Hinata didn't need to wonder if he did anymore, because she knew that he did.

"Wow, this looks great," Sakura complimented as she got out the silverware and set it in front of everyone's place at the breakfast table in the kitchen.

"Thanks," Hinata smiled. They all sat down, and began eating breakfast. Sakura was chatting with Hinata about school, work, and her plans for college.

After they were done eating, Hinata and Sakura got up to clean up the dishes. Sasuke sat at the table after the girls told him to sit down and rest. Sasuke thought that the arrangement of his now ex and now not-an-ex girlfriend was awkward, but the girls seemed to be getting along.

They then cut the cake and placed it on the table, after they were done cleaning. They ate at it slowly, and by the time Sasuke's family came home from work around five, the cake was almost all gone, but Sakura and Hinata were still talking.

"Oh, Hinata, Sakura, hello," Itachi greeted unsurely as he walked through the garage door and into the kitchen.

"Hi Itachi, long time no see," Hinata greeted. Itachi smiled and nodded once before hanging up his coat on the coat rack and giving Sasuke a puzzled look. In turn, Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and continued picking at his cake, getting bored of the girl's banter.

About an hour later, Sakura got up from the table. "Thanks so much for having me, but I really should be getting home," Sasuke nodded and got up to lead Sakura to the door.

When he opened the front door for her and she stepped out, she turned around to touch his face, for the last time. "So this is goodbye," she quietly said.

Sasuke nodded. "Well, I hope that everything goes well in you and Hinata's relationship. She really is a sweet girl, and she really has missed you. Thanks for the memories," Sakura stood on her tippy toes to give Sasuke a kiss on the cheek, and without saying anything more, she walked to her car.

Sasuke stood with the door open, watching Sakura drive away, forever. Hinata came up behind Sasuke and wrapped her arms around him, glad to be able to touch him again.

"Can we go to my house so I can get some clothes now and brush my teeth?" she asked, looking up at him from behind. Sasuke nodded and went to grab his car keys to drive her home, something that he hadn't done in three months.

When they were in the car, a song came on the radio. Hinata turned it up and started singing along loudly and off key, Sasuke smiled and joined in. Although Hinata usually sang in the car with Kiba, she also wanted to create the same memory with Sasuke. All of the memories that she had with Kiba, she had to recreate with Sasuke in order for it to feel right. She smiled through her singing at the thought of doing a bunch of fun things with Sasuke.

When they reached her house and Sasuke parked on the side of the road, she remembered something. She reached over and helped him turn off the ignition. Sasuke looked at her, surprised that she remembered what they used to do.

Hinata beamed at him, "It's because I want you to always start with me, and end with me," she repeated the same exact words that she had told him back then. Sasuke was filled with inexplicable joy as he walked Hinata into her home and waited in her room while she took a shower and got dolled up for their dinner and bowling date later.

To him, it felt like old times. It felt like the end of sadness and the beginning of a new life again with the girl that he loved so much, and he knew that he would never let her go again.

** Awww! I'm so happy about this chapter! I almost cried during the Sakura and Sasuke scene, because it sucks when guys do crap like that :O I seriously don't want this story to end **** but it has to! I could write like two more chapters though… Covering their new life together (again) and then what happens to them after high school, but it might not be as emotional as this chapter! **** I'll have to think about it. But no, this is not the end fellow readers! But I've written two chapters today (the last two chapters were my favorite 3) and I'm brain dead XD k bye **


	12. Chapter 12

**It's been a long time since I've written, because I frankly got bored with the story and the lack of comments that I got about the amazing plot twist in the last two chapters was… Unexpected. In a bad way. But, that's what I get for writing stories for other people's satisfaction, now it's all about me.**

Hinata and Sasuke were happily back together now, and they remembered why they fell in love with each other in the first place as well. All seemed to be well in their world, but what about the lives of their insignificant others?

Kiba sat in his desk, watching Sasuke take his place in the seat next to Hinata. He shrunk in his seat and tried to ignore the bitterness in his heart. It was a horrible bitter, the kind that you get when eating a small grape, or when your heart has been broken for the first time and isn't sure of how to mend yet.

He knew that what he and Hinata had was real, and that he had been casually tossed aside once Hinata was sure of her feelings for Sasuke again. True, the unfairness of it all made the situation worse, and it made Kiba angry and hurt at the same time and yet—he didn't know how to feel about it anymore.

Kiba was so sure that he knew it all, after all he was with Hinata for almost three months. But then the thought came to him, she had the time of her life with him, and if she wanted to waste everything on Sasuke, then he was going to let her. It was his senior year, and no one was going to ruin that for him, not even Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura, in another classroom at the time, was also staring out the window. She wasn't sure if she could hate Sasuke, or hate Hinata, because both had been good to her. Should she even be offended that Sasuke's heart belonged to someone else? No. She shouldn't be offended, humiliated, or hurt, because throughout all of that, she maintained her dignity and self-control.

She couldn't help but feel a little cheated however. She reminded herself that she was just a bump in the road of the long road that is Sasuke and Hinata. Yes, it was saddening, but wasn't it liberating as well? Although her heart hurt and felt like sinking with every breath, with every thought, she knew that she could withstand anything. Sasuke might have had a piece of her, and there will probably be a hole in her heart shaped just like him, she knew that she never really had him in the first place.

She had been alone all along.

The bell rang and Sasuke and Hinata walked out hand in hand. Kiba was still bitter, and he thought of where to go from here now. He decided to skip his next class and take a double lunch break. When it was the second lunch he saw Hinata and Sasuke, once again, together. A look of satisfaction that could be mistaken for misery was on her face. Maybe Hinata was never miserable with Sasuke in the first place, just bored. Kiba didn't want to explore the possibilities.

He rounded the corner quickly, his anger fueling his legs to go faster and faster until he was in the safety of his car.

But he didn't account for what happened next, he bumped into someone and he felt the hot spill of coffee on his shirt.

"God dammit!" he yelled out. He held his soaked shirt and glared at it angrily, he looked up to meet the person that did this to him.

To his shock, it was Sakura, looking at pretty as usual. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry Kiba! Here, let me help you clean it up," she searched her backpack for something that could clean the coffee stain.

Kiba sighed angrily, "Forget about it."

"No! Please, let me help you," Sakura insisted. She knew that there wasn't much that she could do, but to have interaction with Kiba and a chance to talk about the Hinata and Sasuke situation was too good to abandon right now.

"I said forget about it," Kiba glared at her. Sakura shrunk back.

"Why are you so angry at me? I'm just trying to help…" she said softly looking at her feet as she did so.

Kiba sighed, turned, and kicked the nearest locker. "I'm just angry today, okay?" he snapped.

"Is it because of Hinata?" she tried. She looked up to meet his wild eyes and she held his gaze for a while.

Kiba shook his head, trying to shake off the tears. "Yes," he admitted softly.

"I know that it's not fair what they did to us, but it's not the end of us either," she offered.

Kiba stopped everything. He stopped his anger, he stopped his frustration at his coffee stained shirt, and he stopped to think of this possibility.

"You're right," he sighed.

Sakura smiled, "I know I am… Hey, do you want to go off campus for lunch today?"

Kiba smiled back at her, "Sure, as long as we don't come back after lunch is over."

Sakura considered the thought of skipping the rest of the day, especially because she had always been a good student. But it was her senior year, and she needed support from someone who was as equally as hurt as her, she agreed to it and they both left in Kiba's truck.

In May, everyone graduated. Hinata and Sasuke still had plans to go to college together, and get married at a later date. Most people objected to their long engagement, but Hinata and Sasuke were convinced that they were made for each other.

Sakura did her best to support Hinata in her decision, and Kiba didn't try at all. He and Sasuke went back to their rivalry, and Kiba and Hinata never spoke again.

Kiba went on to play football for Konoha University and decided to major in journalism, so that he could share his experiences as he wondered through the inseparable bond that is Hinata and Sasuke.

Sakura went to the medical school of her dreams in a different village, she hopes to become a great doctor someday.

Sakura and Kiba never went on any further dates than the lunch date that they shared after both of their hearts were broken, but they remained good friends, even in college.

All in all, everyone was happy, for it is the saddest thing to be with someone and be in love with someone else. Sometimes, it is even worse than being alone, grieving on your own. Nothing can break a heart quicker than not being able to love the one you're with, or be with the one that you love.

And though people do unfair and selfish things in love, there is always hope. And that hope can carry you on to tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. No situation of sadness is ever permanent, and years will pass and happiness and sadness will come and go, but one things for sure, there's always tomorrow. 3

**Awwww! I have really loved my loyal readers, it's been great having all of your support, and sorry that it's taken me so long to update (especially for a crappy ending nonetheless) but if I could make at least one person happy with this story, then that's enough for me. This last chapter took me three weeks to write, because I wasn't sure where to end it or where to go with it. And I still don't like the ending but oh well! :D best dang story I've ever written…**


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